Texas Medical Marijuana

Texas’s Compassionate Use Program (CUP) allows certain physicians to prescribe low tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) cannabis for medical purposes.   

Low-THC comes from the plant Cannabis Sativa L. All parts of the plant and any resulting compounds, salts, resins, oils and derivatives that contain no more than 0.5 % by weight of THC are considered Low-THC. Medical use of these substances is limited to swallowing, not smoking, the prescribed dose of low-THC. 

By law, CUP is limited to Texas patients with: 

• Epilepsy 
• Seizure disorders 
• Multiple sclerosis 
• Spasticity 
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis 
• Autism 
• Terminal cancer 
• An incurable neurodegenerative disease 

Patients may get Low-THC cannabis prescribed if:  

• The patient is a permanent resident of Texas  
• The patient has one of the medical conditions listed above 
• A CUP registered physician prescribes  
• That qualified physician decides the benefit outweighs the risk  

There is no age limit for prescriptions. Patients under 18 may need a legal guardian.  

Getting a prescription:  

• The physician will enter a prescription in the Compassionate Use Registry of Texas (CURT)
• After, the patient or legal guardian can go to any licensed dispensary to get the prescription
• The patient or legal guardian will need to provide ID and patient's, last name, date of birth, and last five digits of their Social Security Number

CURT is an online system provided by DPS and used by Qualified physicians to input and manage low-THC prescriptions. 

Dispensaries use the CURT system to search for the patient’s information before filling any related prescriptions.

A physician’s qualifications to prescribe low-THC is outlined in Section A169.002 of Senate Bill 339 (PDF).