A piece of legislation that would have expanded Texas’ limited medical marijuana program was officially ruled dead on Tuesday, after it became clear that the bill was too far back on the docket to reach the house floor by tomorrow’s legislative deadline.
According to the Texas Observer, the two lawmakers who wrote the bill, Democratic Representative Eddie Lucio III and Republican Representative, and Vans slip-on enthusiast Jason Isaac, went on Facebook Live last night to tell Texans that the bill had failed.
The legislation, House Bill 2107, was set to add a number of new conditions to the Texas Compassionate Use Act, the low-THC, extremely limited marijuana program that passed in 2015. HB 2107 would have added epilepsy, cancer and cerebral palsy to the list of accepted conditions.
After a hearing in which legislators heard the stories of 70 families who have been helped by CBD-heavy cannabis oil, HB 2107 found support from both sides of the aisle and looked like it was on its way to passing, with 76 cosigners, including 29 Republicans.
But, because of some lengthy debates over bills deemed more important by the Republican-led legislature, HB 2017 doesn’t have enough juice to make it to the State House floor by the May 11th deadline.
Even after the bill’s demise, Rep. Isaac has assured his constituents that he will continue fighting for medical marijuana in Texas. Earlier this week Isaac hedged his bets by adding a cannabis oil protection amendment to an important child welfare bill that is expected to pass before the deadline.
There’s still a lot of work to be done before all Texans have the access to cannabis they deserve, but the bipartisan support for HB 2107 is a good sign for things to come, even if it takes another year to actually pass.
