Cannabis companies push for more licenses

Industry association says the three the state has issued aren’t nearly enough to provide easy access for those with severe epilepsy

Medical cannabis companies and investors are calling on Gov. Greg Abbott’s office and the Department of Public Safety to approve more dispensary licenses beyond the three given provisional approval in May.

In a pair of letters this week, the coalition argues that having just three dispensaries, two in Austin and one in Schulenburg, cannot ensure that patients with intractable epilepsy have easy access to the low THC-chemical strain of the cannabis plant.

The Texas Cannabis Industry Association requested in its letter that a second round of applications be taken for the 40 companies that initially applied for but failed to obtain provisional licenses. The group specifically asks for at least nine additional licenses.

The requested number stems from a recommendation made by DPS’ chief financial officer, who noted in September 2015 that at least 12 dispensaries would need to be licensed to meet the needs of some 150,000 patients with intractable epilepsy in the state.

When Abbott signed the Compassionate Use Act in September 2015, he was surrounded by epilepsy patients who suffer seizures.

“A law that will help these children is now in effect,” he said at the time.

The Chronicle reported the same day that Abbott had affirmed Texas would not legalize marijuana for further medical or recreational use.

In October 2016, DPS officials reduced their recommended number of dispensaries to three.

A DPS memo sent to at least one cannabis company last November stated that the governor’s office had requested the reduction, along with other regulatory changes to the state’s fledgling medical-cannabis program.

The companies and investors who signed the Texas Cannabis Industry letter note that both DPS and the governor’s office “failed to provide a reasoned justification for this arbitrary choice limiting the number of licensees.”

A DPS spokesman said in an email that the information in the November memo was dated. He referred to the agency’s website on the medical-cannabis program, which states that three licenses were deemed sufficient based on an analysis of other states’ programs, the number of patients in Texas with intractable epilepsy, and statutory requirements.

Chad Sykes, chief of cultivation for San Antonio-based Alamo CBD, said in a statement

that the question remains over how three dispensaries will be able to mail out medicine to patients across Texas. He also noted lingering doubts over how the initial licensing applications were handled.

“The technology and sciences required for the advancement of this medication were apparently not considered during the decision-making process when the state arbitrarily decided to issue only three permits,” Sykes said.

The 2015 law gives DPS until Sept. 1 to formally license dispensaries.

“The patients and their willing physicians have been documented by the many advocacy groups,” the letter from the cannabis industry association reads. “The only thing lacking to ease these families’ suffering is the state government living up to its responsibility.”