Menéndez Cannabis Research Bill Adds An 11-Member Governor-Appointed Board

The text as introduced · 1,999 words

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.