Persuasive Position: Changing Texas Cannabis Law

Cannabis laws are changing all over the nation. Yet Texas continues to have some of the most restrictive ordinances prohibiting even the prescription of marijuana for medicinal purposes as well as recreational use in the nation. Houston Public Medias Jerry Quijano Kuts recent article New Medical Marijuana Law Goes into Effect, Expanding Access to Cancer Patients and Texans with PTSD proclaims sensationally that the recently passed House Bill 1535 means: Thousands more Texans can now be prescribed medical cannabis oil with low levels of THC, the ingredient that gets people high (Kut, 2021, par.1). But people who are using marijuana for pain relief are not using the drug to feel high. They are merely using it, in many instances, simply to feel normal and to be able to manage the acts of their daily lives.

Regarding the fact that marijuana is a potentially dangerous narcotic, the same could be said of any number of controlled substances prescribed for pain relief. Instead of viewing cannabis as a particularly nefarious drug, a more useful comparison might be with other substances, such as opioid medications, which have an even higher degree of addictive potential. Marijuana, simply because people also use it recreationally, should be viewed in the context of other medical substances (and also recreational substances like alcohol), rather than demonized in the rhetoric of the media. The Houston Public Media articles reference to getting high simply contributes to the spread of misinformation that medical marijuana legalization advocates have been trying to fight for decades.

If anything, advocates for the chronically ill argue, the bill does not go far enough. As noted by the bills advocates, individuals suffering from severe illnesses should not have to worry about proving that they are sick to warrant a prescription, if their physician believes it may be helpful. The bill does provide some hope by allowing all forms of cancer to be treated with the drug. Previously, only terminal cancer patients could get a prescription for cannabis. The current bill notes any form of cancer can potentially be terminal, and even patients without a terminal cancer diagnosis can suffer debilitating pain and loss of function...

But the bill also only allows certain sufferers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as veterans, to access cannabis to address their psychological needs (Kut, 2021). Cannabis also has psychological applications, and the bill falls short in this regard, since PTSD sufferers from sexual abuse and other common afflictions cannot get relief.

This is not to say that every single person who wants to use marijuana wants to do so for medicinal...

…on Drug Abuse. That appears to have risen significantly in recent years andduring the pandemic (Wistrom, 2021, par.4). Although marijuana is not a risk-free substance, when compared with opioids, which have been much more widely prescribed, it is often a more mild, less addictive, and more effective palliative. It can increase appetite, mood, as well as relieve pain, making it particularly helpful for patients grappling with severe physical illnesses which also impact their mood. And opioids do not have the psychological application cannabis use does.

Cannabis users who with to be prescribed marijuana are not seeking to get high. They are seeking relief. Unfortunately, the misconception lingers that all individuals seeking assistance with pain and anxiety from marijuana are simply making up their symptoms. There is also the lingering notion that marijuana use is somehow less legitimate in its medical applications than opioids and other pharmaceutical treatments. In fact, there are many paths to pain relief. Unfortunately, Texas appears to be dragging its feet as it limits the medical conditions for which the drug can be prescribed, and even the Texas media continues to use the language of getting high to describe the drugs legitimate uses in medicine. The media should be striving to overcome the publics prejudices and misconceptions regarding pain relief, PTSD, and the prescription of marijuana, not add to…