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Texas

CANNABIS DISPENSARY REGULATIONS FOR TEXAS

Texas operates a limited medical cannabis program known as the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP). The program is administered by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), which oversees licensing, compliance, enforcement, and the Compassionate Use Registry of Texas (CURT).

Texas uses a vertically integrated licensing model. Each licensed dispensing organization must handle the cultivation, processing, packaging, and dispensing of medical cannabis. The state does not issue separate retail-only dispensary licenses.

Licensing Structure and Market Access

Under House Bill 46, DPS must issue a total of 15 dispensing organization licenses if enough qualified applicants meet the program’s requirements.

Texas currently lists three active dispensing organizations:

  • Fluent
  • Texas Original
  • Goodblend

In May 2026, DPS announced the conditional selection of 12 additional organizations. A conditional selection does not authorize an organization to cultivate, manufacture, distribute, or sell cannabis. Each organization must complete the state’s due-diligence process and receive final licensing approval before beginning operations.

Once licensed, a dispensing organization must become operational within 24 months.

Satellite Dispensing Locations

House Bill 46 allows licensed dispensing organizations to operate approved satellite locations where medical cannabis may be securely stored and dispensed.

A licensee generally may not operate more than one satellite location within a public health region until it operates at least one location in every Texas public health region. This requirement is intended to improve geographic access across the state.

Retail operations at satellite locations remain part of the vertically integrated dispensing organization. Texas still does not authorize independent dispensaries.

Patient Registration and Access

Patients must receive a medical cannabis prescription from a physician registered with CURT. The physician enters the patient and prescription information directly into the registry.

Texas does not require patients to apply separately for a physical medical marijuana card. Patients generally present identification at a licensed dispensing location so the organization can verify their information and prescription through CURT.

The program is limited to permanent Texas residents with qualifying medical conditions.

Qualifying Medical Conditions

The Texas Compassionate Use Act allows medical cannabis prescriptions for conditions that include:

  • Epilepsy and seizure disorders
  • Multiple sclerosis and spasticity
  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
  • Autism
  • Cancer
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder
  • Glaucoma
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Spinal neuropathy
  • Crohn’s disease and other inflammatory bowel diseases
  • Degenerative disc disease
  • Certain chronic-pain conditions for which a physician might otherwise prescribe an opioid
  • Terminal illnesses and conditions receiving hospice or palliative care
  • Certain incurable neurodegenerative diseases

The law also provides pathways for additional conditions designated by the Department of State Health Services, qualifying research participants, and certain honorably discharged veterans.

THC Limits and Permitted Products

House Bill 46 changed the definition of low-THC cannabis. Products may generally contain no more than 1% THC by weight in each dosage unit.

The legislation did not establish a universal 10-milligram-per-dose limit.

Texas permits medical use through ingestion, absorption, inhalation, or insertion, but smoking cannabis remains prohibited. A product intended for pulmonary inhalation may exceed the standard concentration limit when a physician determines that it is medically necessary and specifies the appropriate THC content in the prescription.

Dispensing organizations must follow DPS requirements covering formulation, testing, packaging, labeling, transportation, inventory control, and product security.

Compliance and Local Authority

Licensed organizations are subject to facility inspections, security requirements, inventory tracking, recordkeeping, and reporting obligations.

Texas municipalities and counties may not prohibit the cultivation, production, dispensing, storage, or possession of low-THC cannabis when those activities are authorized under the Compassionate Use Program. Operators must still comply with applicable building, fire, safety, and operational requirements.

Payment and Banking Considerations

Texas medical cannabis businesses continue to face limited access to conventional banking and payment services because marijuana remains federally controlled.

Dispensing organizations should work only with payment providers that understand cannabis underwriting, transaction monitoring, regulatory reporting, and operational continuity. Our guide to payment stability and approval speed explains why transparency and payment redundancy are important in regulated markets.

Learn more about PayRio’s cannabis payment solutions or contact PayRio to discuss payment processing for an eligible Texas medical cannabis business.

CANNABIS LEGALIZATION HISTORY IN TEXAS

Texas established the Compassionate Use Program in 2015 through Senate Bill 339. The original program was limited primarily to patients with intractable epilepsy and allowed access only to low-THC cannabis.

Lawmakers expanded the program in 2019 and 2021 by adding qualifying conditions and modifying product requirements.

House Bill 46, effective September 1, 2025, represented another significant expansion. The legislation added qualifying conditions, revised THC restrictions, authorized satellite dispensing locations, and required DPS to expand the program to 15 dispensing organization licenses.

Texas has not legalized adult-use cannabis. Recreational possession, cultivation, manufacturing, and sales remain illegal under state law.

CANNABIS LEGALIZATION STATUS IN TEXAS

Current Status: Legal for limited medical use only

Texas law allows:

  • Eligible patients to obtain medical cannabis through CURT-registered physicians
  • Licensed dispensing organizations to cultivate, manufacture, and dispense low-THC cannabis
  • Approved satellite locations operated by licensed dispensing organizations
  • Medical cannabis products that comply with state formulation and dosage requirements

Texas law does not allow:

  • Recreational cannabis sales
  • Independent retail-only dispensaries
  • Personal home cultivation
  • Smoking medical cannabis

Texas’ medical cannabis market continues to expand cautiously through additional licensing, broader patient eligibility, and increased geographic access.

LAST UPDATED 9/8/2026 – Laws can be revised and updated frequently, so please keep this in mind.