DISTRICT 5 DELEGATE PROPOSES EXPANSION OF MEDICAL CANNABIS SO THAT MORE TEXANS WITH CHRONIC ILLNESSES CAN ACCESS IT
Many modern Americans tend to view the use of cannabis as a deeply unserious and usually recreational practice. Amongst those who know the history of the substance, however, it is known that its origins were medicinal. According to the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics at the University of Sydney, the first appearance of the use of cannabis was over four thousand years ago in China, where the emperor Shen Nung was known to use it to remediate a vast list of medical conditions. Since then, cannabis has spread across the world and been recognized for its healing qualities, then yet again for its hallucinogenic ones. Of course, with this diffusion comes stigma and speculation surrounding the true intents of youth-endorsed legislation expanding its use. However, the bill (HB126) by District 5 delegate Saanvi Vaddi (Highland Park H.S.) calls for the expansion of eligibility for CUP (Compassionate Use Program) cannabis licenses, increased concentration of dispensaries, and greater funding for Texas DPS locations, to name a few of its numerous provisions. Vaddi specifically plans to expand permissions to people with endometriosis, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, Parkinson’s disease, and fibromyalgia. When posed with an inquiry about the risk of lung damage for those with marijuana administered to them, she ensured that the general medical maximum concentration of THC is a mere 1% and would thus not cause harm to a patient’s respiratory system. This low concentration also clarifies the potential of DUls being stricken upon the heightened population using medical THC (such an amount would not inhibit people’s driving abilities, but in the case of abuse of the drug, legal action is possible). Overall, 24 U.S. states allow THC for recreational use, and 47 (including Texas) allow it for medicinal practice. As this number continues to rise, more specific regulation is imperative.
By: Malcolm Hodge