89R4873 LHC-F
By: Menéndez S.B. No. 733
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of a medical cannabis research program;
authorizing fees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 6, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 446 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 446. MEDICAL CANNABIS RESEARCH PROGRAM
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 446.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the
Medical Cannabis Research Act.
Sec. 446.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Advisory board" means the medical cannabis
research advisory board established under this chapter.
(2) "License" means a medical cannabis research
license issued by the department under Subchapter C.
(3) "License holder" means a person who holds a
medical cannabis research license.
(4) "Medical cannabis" means the plant Cannabis sativa
L., and any part of that plant or any compound, manufacture, salt,
derivative, mixture, preparation, resin, or oil of that plant. The
term does not include hemp, as defined by Section 121.001,
Agriculture Code, or a consumable hemp product, as defined by
Section 443.001 of this code.
SUBCHAPTER B. MEDICAL CANNABIS RESEARCH ADVISORY BOARD
Sec. 446.051. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY BOARD. (a) A
medical cannabis research advisory board is established to perform
functions and duties under this chapter.
(b) The executive commissioner shall assist the advisory
board as provided by this chapter.
Sec. 446.052. MEMBERSHIP. (a) The advisory board members
are appointed by the governor and serve staggered six-year terms,
with the terms of one-third of the members, or as near to one-third
as possible, expiring on August 31 of each odd-numbered year.
(b) The advisory board shall be composed of the following 11
members:
(1) a licensed physician certified by the American
Board of Internal Medicine and certified in the subspecialty of
medical oncology;
(2) a licensed physician certified by the American
Board of Surgery;
(3) a licensed physician certified by the American
Board of Psychiatry and Neurology;
(4) a licensed physician certified by the American
Board of Family Medicine;
(5) a licensed physician certified in neurology with a
special qualification in child neurology;
(6) a licensed physician specializing in pain
management certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology, the
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, or the American Board
of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation;
(7) a licensed pharmacist;
(8) a licensed advanced practice registered nurse
specializing in palliative care certified by the Hospice and
Palliative Credentialing Center or a licensed physician
specializing in palliative care certified by a member board of the
American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Osteopathic
Association, or the Hospice Medical Director Certification Board;
(9) a representative from a Texas medical specialty
organization;
(10) a licensed attorney with experience in law
pertaining to the practice of medicine and cannabis regulation; and
(11) a person who represents medical cannabis patient
interests.
(c) At least two members of the advisory board must be
affiliated with an institution of higher education or private or
independent institution of higher education involved in relevant
research, such as a medical and dental unit, general academic
teaching institution, or other agency of higher education, as
defined by Section 61.003, Education Code.
(d) The governor shall select a presiding officer from the
membership of the advisory board.
(e) The advisory board shall meet at least quarterly at the
call of the presiding officer.
(f) The advisory board may create and appoint one or more
advisory committees composed of patients, law enforcement
officers, researchers, other medical professionals, and other
persons who are knowledgeable about the medical use of cannabis.
(g) Members serve without compensation but are entitled to
reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in
performing official duties.
Sec. 446.053. DUTIES OF ADVISORY BOARD; REPORT. (a) The
advisory board shall assist the department in evaluating proposals
submitted as part of a license application under Section 446.104.
(b) The advisory board shall conduct a continuing study of
the laws relating to medical cannabis to facilitate statewide
access to safe and effective medical cannabis.
(c) The advisory board shall prepare a report of the board's
findings and recommendations under Subsection (b) and submit the
report to the legislature not later than September 1 of each
even-numbered year.
(d) Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the
advisory board.
SUBCHAPTER C. MEDICAL CANNABIS RESEARCH LICENSE
Sec. 446.101. ISSUANCE OF LICENSE. The department shall
issue a medical cannabis research license to a person that
authorizes the person to possess, manufacture, cultivate, or
dispense medical cannabis for the limited research purposes
described by Section 446.102.
Sec. 446.102. PURPOSE OF LICENSE. A medical cannabis
research license may be issued for the following limited research
purposes:
(1) conducting objective scientific research into the
safety and efficacy of medical cannabis or other public health
outcomes related to medical cannabis;
(2) developing medical guidelines for the appropriate
administration of medical cannabis to assist physicians and
patients in evaluating the risks and benefits of medical cannabis
and to provide a scientific basis for future policies;
(3) developing quality control, purity, and labeling
standards for medical cannabis;
(4) developing best practices for the safe and
efficient cultivation of medical cannabis;
(5) analyzing genetic and healing properties of
different varieties of cannabis;
(6) conducting genomic, horticultural, or
agricultural research; and
(7) conducting research on cannabis-affiliated
products or systems.
Sec. 446.103. APPLICATION FOR LICENSE. (a) As part of the
application process for a license, an applicant shall submit to the
department and the advisory board a description of the research
that the applicant intends to conduct. The department shall grant
the license if:
(1) the department determines that the application
meets the criteria for the issuance of a license described by
Section 446.102 and Subchapter C, Chapter 487; and
(2) the advisory board recommends the application for
approval under Section 446.104(b).
(b) The department may not grant a license if the advisory
board does not recommend the application for approval.
Sec. 446.104. REVIEW BY ADVISORY BOARD. (a) The advisory
board shall review each applicant's research project to assess the
following:
(1) the quality, study design, value, and impact of
the project;
(2) whether the research supports the purposes
described by Section 446.102;
(3) whether the applicant has the appropriate
personnel, expertise, facilities, infrastructure, funding, and
approvals in place to successfully conduct the project; and
(4) whether the amount of cannabis to be grown by the
applicant is consistent with the scope and goals of the project.
(b) If the advisory board determines that the research
project meets the requirements of this subchapter and the applicant
satisfies the criteria described by Subsection (a), the advisory
board may recommend that a license be granted to the applicant for
the project.
Sec. 446.105. CONTRACTS. A license holder may contract to
perform research in conjunction with another license holder, a
medical school, as defined by Section 61.501, Education Code, a
hospital licensed under Chapter 241, or an institution of higher
education or private or independent institution of higher education
involved in relevant research, such as a general academic teaching
institution, medical and dental unit, or other agency of higher
education, as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code.
Sec. 446.106. TRANSFER OF CANNABIS TO OTHER LICENSE HOLDER.
Unless otherwise authorized by the department, a license holder may
only transfer, by sale or donation, cannabis grown or processed
within the license holder's operation to another license holder or
program participant as authorized by department rule.
Sec. 446.107. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. The growing,
cultivating, possessing, or transferring, by sale or donation, of
cannabis in accordance with this subchapter and the rules adopted
under this subchapter, by a license holder may not be the basis of
criminal or civil liability.
Sec. 446.108. FEES. The executive commissioner shall set
license and renewal fees in an amount sufficient to administer this
chapter.
Sec. 446.109. RULES. The executive commissioner shall, in
consultation with the advisory board and the Public Safety
Commission of the Department of Public Safety, adopt rules to
implement this chapter, including:
(1) license application requirements;
(2) license renewal requirements, including the
consideration or addition of additional research projects by a
license holder;
(3) grounds for license revocation;
(4) security measures to ensure cannabis is not
diverted to purposes other than research;
(5) license holder reporting requirements;
(6) conditions under which cannabis grown by licensed
cannabis cultivators and other product types from licensed cannabis
processors may be donated to license holders; and
(7) additional rules the executive commissioner
considers necessary.
SECTION 2. Section 481.062(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The following persons may possess a controlled
substance under this chapter without registering with the Federal
Drug Enforcement Administration:
(1) an agent or employee of a manufacturer,
distributor, analyzer, or dispenser of the controlled substance who
is registered with the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration and
acting in the usual course of business or employment;
(2) a common or contract carrier, a warehouseman, or
an employee of a carrier or warehouseman whose possession of the
controlled substance is in the usual course of business or
employment;
(3) an ultimate user or a person in possession of the
controlled substance under a lawful order of a practitioner or in
lawful possession of the controlled substance if it is listed in
Schedule V;
(4) an officer or employee of this state, another
state, a political subdivision of this state or another state, or
the United States who is lawfully engaged in the enforcement of a
law relating to a controlled substance or drug or to a customs law
and authorized to possess the controlled substance in the discharge
of the person's official duties;
(5) if the substance is tetrahydrocannabinol or one of
its derivatives:
(A) a Department of State Health Services
official, a medical school researcher, or a research program
participant possessing the substance as authorized under
Subchapter G; or
(B) a practitioner or an ultimate user possessing
the substance as a participant in a federally approved therapeutic
research program that the commissioner has reviewed and found, in
writing, to contain a medically responsible research protocol; [or]
(6) a dispensing organization licensed under
Subchapter C, Chapter 487 that possesses low-THC cannabis; or
(7) a medical cannabis research license holder under
Chapter 446 that possesses medical cannabis.
SECTION 3. Section 551.004(a), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) This subtitle does not apply to:
(1) a practitioner licensed by the appropriate state
board who supplies a patient of the practitioner with a drug in a
manner authorized by state or federal law and who does not operate a
pharmacy for the retailing of prescription drugs;
(2) a member of the faculty of a college of pharmacy
recognized by the board who is a pharmacist and who performs the
pharmacist's services only for the benefit of the college;
(3) a person who procures prescription drugs for
lawful research, teaching, or testing and not for resale;
(4) a home and community support services agency that
possesses a dangerous drug as authorized by Section 142.0061,
142.0062, or 142.0063, Health and Safety Code; [or]
(5) a dispensing organization, as defined by Section
487.001, Health and Safety Code, that cultivates, processes, and
dispenses low-THC cannabis, as authorized by a license issued under
Subchapter C, Chapter 487, Health and Safety Code, to a patient
listed in the compassionate-use registry established under that
chapter; or
(6) a medical cannabis research license holder under
Chapter 446, Health and Safety Code, that cultivates, possesses,
researches, tests, and dispenses medical cannabis as authorized by
the license.
SECTION 4. Not later than December 31, 2025, the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall
adopt rules as required to implement, administer, and enforce this
Act.
SECTION 5. The governor shall appoint members to the
medical cannabis research advisory board as required under Chapter
446, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, as soon as
practicable but not later than September 1, 2025.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.