Jack Stinnett got life-changing news in 2020 when he learned the lump that appeared on the side of his neck was tongue and mouth cancer. He and his wife Karen quickly enrolled him at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he underwent five and a half rounds of chemotherapy and 33 treatments of radiation.
During this time, Stinnett, a Marble Falls resident, went from a reasonably healthy 60-year-old who rode his bicycle more than 60 miles daily to losing more than 100 pounds after losing his appetite and sense of taste.
Then, Stinnett qualified for a medical marijuana prescription for the nerve pain he received from the cancer treatments and found the relief he needed.
“It helped with my appetite and sleep. This Compassionate Care Act, in my opinion, helps like no other,” he said. “We just need politicians to get out of the way.”
Stories like this point to the successes of Texas’ Compassionate Use Program, but it is facing its worst existential crisis since its inception in 2015. Strict rules on who is eligible, what products can be sold, and where they can be stored have limited the program’s impact, while unregulated hemp products like delta-8 and the more potent delta-9 continue to rise in demand due to ease of access.
A potential showdown is brewing between the medical cannabis market and the hemp industry in Texas as both are looking to lawmakers to determine the future.
States like Colorado and California, where both medical and recreational marijuana are legal, are putting tighter restrictions on