AUSTIN - The first doses of medicinal marijuana will be available for purchase in Texas as early as December, ending a wait of more than two years since lawmakers approved use of cannabidiol for people who suffer uncontrollable epileptic seizures.
But the projected 150,000 people who qualify may not get fast or affordable access to the medicinal oil, if they can get it at all, critics say.
STATE BY STATE: Texas Cannabis News
Just three companies - two in Austin and one in Schulenberg - are set to supply the entire state. It means most patients will have to get the drugs through over-the-road delivery, a potentially expensive service for people in far-flung regions because the oils can't be transported by air or by mail because of federal regulations.
Then there's the issue of getting physician permission to use the cannabidiol in the first place. The Texas law authorizing use of the drug puts physicians on murky legal ground, critics say, because the certified epileptologists and neurologists must prescribe the drug, instead of recommend it, a phrase other states have used to sidestep federal marijuana prohibitions.
