Texas passed a certain milestone as it became the 30th state in the U.S. to administer legal medical marijuana after doctors in central Texas prescribed CDB oil to a 6 year-old girl with epilepsy.
Before you start envisioning Willie Nelson playing Bob Marley covers on the streets of Austin in celebration, marijuana is still illegal — both recreationally and medically — in the state of Texas. Yes, you read that correctly. Despite the prescription being completely legal, the company producing the marijuana being completely legal, marijuana itself is still illegal. That’s due to a 2015 ruling that allows marijuana to be prescribed if all other epilepsy treatments fail. The girl was prescribed CBD oil which has an extremely low THC quantity (often less than 1%) meaning that there’s almost no chance the epilepsy patient feels any “buzz” whatsoever. THC — the “stoner” chemical found in marijuana that brings on giggles, munchies, and sometimes paranoia — only takes up 1/3rd of 1% (.03%) of commercial CBD oil.
Interestingly, the marijuana that makes the CBD oil is being grown legally in Texas by Cansortium Texas, who are one of roughly 10 companies allowed to grown marijuana for medical purposes in the lone star state. Another fun fact: it costs about $1.3 million to become a legal marijuana grower in Texas, a massive jump from the $6,000 application fee before the 2015 ruling.
Texas may not be immediately following in the footsteps of California’s fully legal recreational marijuana legislation, but if the current groundswell of support for marijuana continues, it might not be that long, either.
