DPS opens applications for more medical cannabis dispensaries in Texas

The Department of Public Safety said they would not make a final decision on licensing more dispensaries until after the Legislative Session.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety is opening an application process to potentially add more medical cannabis dispensaries, the agency announced in a news release Monday.

Only three dispensaries have been licensed in Texas in the past three years.

The application process to add more dispensaries under the Compassionate Use Program opened Monday and will run until April 28, the agency said.

A decision on how many licenses would be approved would be made “at a later date,” the release said. But it’s unlikely that DPS will make a decision before summer, in case the Legislature passes any laws that could change the number of dispensaries allowed.

Texas passed a law in 2015 that legalized the use of cannabis-related substances for medical purposes. The law, however, was highly restrictive in the conditions it covered and how much THC, the element that gives marijuana users a high, was allowed. The Legislature expanded the list of conditions that could be treated under the Compassionate Use Program a few years later. But even then, some advocates believe the program is too selective of the conditions that are allowed and are hoping the Legislature will pass expansion legislation this year.

Wayne Mueller, the chief of DPS’ regulatory services division, said at a December DPS Commission meeting that the agency would open the application process this month. But he said a decision on the timing for adding licenses would not be made until June or July.