Are You Eligible For Marijuana Use In Amarillo Now?

There has been a wide ranging debate for years now as to whether or not marijuana should just be legalized.

In some states, it has been...for awhile now. Texas? Yeah, not one of them.

In Amarillo though, some of the laws have been loosened and you may now qualify for medical marijuana, even if you hadn't before.

Restrictions on marijuana use in Texas have been very strict. A very select few could actually get approved for the use of it for certain medical conditions. For example, only CERTAIN cancer patients were able to be prescribed the drug to help ease with the pain of their illness, not all of them. I've never personally had cancer, but I can't imagine there's a cancer that doesn't cause some kind of excruciating pain along the way. My dad went through tongue cancer and his treatments definitely caused him a lot of pain, more than the cancer itself. Is he someone who could've benefitted from using cannabis? Possibly, but we'll never know. If it's something that helps ease the pain and suffering in these people, why not allow them to use it? They're going through enough already.

The lawmakers in Austin have finally recognized this however, and some changes are upon us. For example, now ALL cancer patients are eligible for the use of medical marijuana. So are veterans who suffer from PTSD along with patients who suffer from epilepsy and autism. Studies have shown that the use of marijuana has reduced the number of seizures an epileptic patient has, and that alone is worth the use of the drug. Marijuana also helps the aggressive outbursts in autistic children. It's not the marijuana itself exactly, but the THC found in the drug that helps with that. THC is the reason marijuana is illegal.

The new laws though are being met with some concern from doctors however. Some doctors at Texas Tech say there isn't enough research. Dr. Tarek Nagiub told NewsChannel 10, "Any drug that you use you want to know the dose that you give and you want to know the blood level that is achieved from that dose. Right now, this is not known because the drug has been forbidden from research.”

The new laws will still make it a very restrictive process as only certain doctors will be allowed to prescribe the drug for patients. Part of the reasoning behind this is because the dosage that is allowed to be prescribed has been raised from .5 percent THC to 1%, a significant increase.

No matter the restrictions, it's good to see lawmakers are starting to see there are some positive effects from medical marijuana use. We'll wait to see just how much further along the discussion goes in Texas.