By Benjie Cooper
IG: @nuglifenews
YouTube: Lucid’s Vlog
Nearly two years after Governor Greg Abbott signed the Texas Compassionate Use Act into law, the first medical cannabis patient was able to receive their first delivery of CBD oil this week.
On Thursday, February 1, an unidentified 6-year-old girl who has epilepsy got her first shipment of cannabidiol from Knox Medical in Schulenburg through the company’s direct-to-patient delivery program.
“For Texans suffering from intractable epilepsy, the wait for medical cannabis is finally over,” said Knox Medical founder and CEO José Hidalgo in a statement. “Patients deserve relief, and Knox Medical is proud to work with physicians and caregivers, and in close coordination with the Texas Department of Public Safety to provide this medicine that exceeds the most rigorous standards for quality and consistency. This is a historic day for Texas, and we will work tirelessly to uphold the trust and responsibility the state has placed in Knox Medical.”
José Hidalgo
Based in Miami, Florida, Knox became the first of three companies in Texas to obtain a medical cannabis license on September 1, 2017, under the name Cansortium Texas. The license enables them to cultivate, extract, and dispense low-THC medicinal products in the state.
Austin-based Compassionate Cultivation obtained their medical cannabis license shortly after Knox, followed by Surterra Wellness.
Exhibiting the highest scores during the approval process, the three licenses that were approved were selected from an initial pool of forty-three applications that the state received.
To obtain medical cannabis oil in Texas, patients must first get approval from two sanctioned physicians in the state’s registry. After the passage of the Compassionate Use Act, the Texas Department of Safety created a secure database of physicians with the primary purpose of recommending medical cannabis to patients with intractable epilepsy.
In order to obtain approval from the two doctors, a patient must be a permanent resident of Texas and have tried at least two FDA-approved drugs that have proved to be ineffective in treating their epilepsy.
Gov Greg Abbott Signs SB-339 in 2016
For patients who are unable to travel to a dispensary, state law requires that companies provide a delivery service. The cannabis oil must also be delivered to the patient or their caregiver by a registered nurse or social worker who will show them how to use it as well.
There are an estimated 160,000 people in Texas who live with intractable epilepsy but there currently fewer than twenty physicians who are licensed to recommend CBD oil.
And as Knox Medical begins to distribute Texas’ first doses of approved medical cannabis to patients, Compassionate Cultivation is also set to open their doors next week on February 8.
With the commencement of the state’s first few dispensaries, a powerful, non-toxic seizure treatment option is finally available for the many thousands of children and adults in Texas suffering from epilepsy.
