A budtender pours marijuana from a jar at Perennial Holistic Wellness Center medical marijuana dispensary, which opened in 2006, on July 25, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
TEXAS - The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announced Tuesday that nine businesses have been conditionally selected for the initial phase of expanding the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP), moving them forward for final due diligence before potentially receiving licenses to dispense low-THC cannabis.
This marks the first step in the state’s plan, outlined in House Bill 46, to issue 12 new TCUP dispensing organization licenses across two phases.
Conditional Selections and Next Steps
The nine organizations were identified following Phase I of the selection process and will now undergo further evaluation, including checks on financial suitability, litigation history, and any disciplinary actions.
What they're saying:
"The announcement of these nine businesses today does not guarantee that these businesses will be issued final TCUP licenses to operate as dispensing organizations," DPS stated.
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The conditional licenses do not authorize the applicants to begin cultivating, manufacturing, distributing, or selling cannabis products. Final approval is contingent upon the businesses successfully completing and passing the additional due diligence evaluations requested by DPS. The department will not invoice any dispensing organization license fees until that process is complete.
Where are the new businesses located?
The conditionally selected organizations, by Public Health Region, are:
- Region 1 Texas Panhandle: Trulieve TX, Inc
- Region 2/3 North Texas: Texas Patient Access, LLC, Lonestar Compassionate Care Group, LLC, Dilatso, LLC
- Region 6/5 South East Texas (Houston area): PC TX OPCO LLC dba PharmaCann, Story of Texas, LLC
- Region 8 South Central Texas (San Antonio area): Lone Star Bioscience, Inc
- Region 9/10 West Texas (El Paso): Verano Texas, LLC
- Region 11 South Texas (Harlingen): Texa OP, dba TexaRx
- Regions 4/5 East Texas (Tyler area) and 7 Central Texas (Temple area): No selections announced in Phase I.
Source: Texas Department of State Health Services, RLHO, August 2025
About the Program Expansion
The backstory:
TCUP was established by Senate Bill 339 in 2015, charging DPS with creating and administering the program under the Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 487. The program licenses dispensing organizations and operates the Compassionate Use Registry of Texas (CURT)—a secure online registry for qualified physicians who can prescribe low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to patients with specific medical conditions.
HB 46, signed into law earlier this year, authorized the department to issue a total of 12 new TCUP dispensing organization licenses. Nine conditional licenses were granted in this initial Phase I, and three additional conditional licensees are slated to be named in Phase II by April 1, 2026.
Who qualifies for the Compassionate Use Program?
Dig deeper:
The Compassionate Use Program has undergone significant expansion since its inception. Currently, to qualify for a prescription, a patient must be a permanent Texas resident and be diagnosed with a condition on the state's approved list.
Following the implementation of House Bill 46, this list now includes: chronic pain, defined as continuous or intermittent severe pain lasting more than 90 days; Crohn's disease and other inflammatory bowel diseases; traumatic brain injury (TBI); terminal illnesses and those in hospice or palliative care. These were added to previously qualifying conditions such as cancer (all stages), Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), epilepsy and other seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), autism spectrum disorder, spasticity, and other incurable neurodegenerative diseases.
DPS oversees regular physical inspections of licensed TCUP dispensing organizations to ensure compliance with state laws and rules.
TCUP Patient Growth in Calendar Year 2025
This graph represents the number of patients listed by their physicians in the Compassionate Use Registry (Source: Texas DPS)
By the numbers:
Patient participation in the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP), as recorded in the Compassionate Use Registry of Texas (CURT), showed consistent growth throughout the first nine months of Calendar Year 2025. The number of patients registered by their physicians rose steadily each month.
Starting the year with 105,493 patients in January, the count increased to 110,026 by March and reached 117,702 by June. The growth continued into the third quarter, with the patient count surpassing 120,000 in July and ultimately reaching 127,206 by the end of September 2025.
The Source: Information in this article is from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department of State Health Services.