Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 1, the Texas Department of Public Safety will be accepting applications for low-THC medical cannabis dispensary licenses. The move is part of a broad expansion of the medical cannabis market signed into law earlier this year.
Only three businesses received dispensary licenses in 2017; all told, 43 interested parties applied for those licenses.
It’s not yet clear how many new licenses will be issued.
“The number of applicants to be conditionally approved will be based on the department's assessment of the top applicants' production capabilities and resources, as well as any additional data that may become available on patient numbers and demand for low-THC cannabis,” according to the department. “Following completion of all licensure requirements, passage of all background checks, and a showing of significant progress toward cultivation and production readiness, the licenses will be issued. Should a conditionally approved applicant fail to satisfy these conditions, the next highest scoring applicant will be conditionally approved.”
Morris Denton, CEO of Compassionate Cultivation, which holds one of the three licenses in Texas, told the Austin American-Statesman that this month-long opportunity for business license applications may attract a great deal of interest from the expanding U.S. marketplace. “A lot of the [national] players are going to want to make a run at Texas,” he said.
When lawmakers expanded the qualifying conditions for medical cannabis recommendations in Texas, the anticipated demand for low-THC products shot up. Previously, the state only allowed recommendations for patients with intractable epilepsy; now, patients may physicians may recommend cannabis to patients with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, ALS, terminal cancer, autism, and many kinds of seizure disorders.
