House Bill 3703 has been signed

Abbott and Texas say if you are a cancer patient, you have to be dying to use medical cannabis.

With the signing of Representative Stephanie Klick’s House Bill 3703 into law today by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the Governor and the State of Texas just told cancer patients that they can not medicate with medical cannabis unless the have been diagnosed terminal or end-stage, in other words… unless the patient is dying.

A Senate Committee substitute of House Bill 3703, sponsored by Senator (and Doctor) Donna Campbell, added a few more conditions to the very limited expansion bill to the Compassionate Use Act.  Klick’s House Bill 3703 originally added only multiple sclerosis and spasticity, and removed the word intractable from “intractable epilepsy”.  Now, committee substitute has added the following conditions to be included in the “Compassionate” Use Program:  epilepsy; a seizure disorder; multiple sclerosis; spasticity; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; autism; terminal cancer; or an incurable neurodegenerative disease.  Wait, what?  Terminal cancer?  Not just cancer, but you have to be terminal to be accepted into the program?  Terminal!

The State of Texas literally just told cancer patients that they don’t qualify for compassion, under the Compassionate Use Program, until they are told by a doctor that they are dying.  I wonder if the doctor offers registration into the compassionate use program at the same time he is telling you that your cancer is terminal and you have 6 months to live – oh, but by the way “You qualify for the Compassionate Use Program now”…

This isn’t a joke.  This is real life.

In 2015, Governor Abbott signed the Compassionate Use Act into law, recognizing cannabis as medicine.  In 2019, when we have 33 other states with a medical cannabis program that allow cancer patients, not terminal cancer patients, but cancer patients alone – Gov. Abbott signs a law saying you have to be dying to access Texas’ very limited medical cannabis program.  Dy-ing.  Say it with me.  Dy-ing.

As someone who is familiar with cancer patients fighting for their lives, enduring the repercussions of modern medicine in chemo and radiation therapy, and ultimately passing away, I know first-hand that a patient can suffer for a long time before their cancer is considered “terminal” or end-stage, even though their body is shutting down due to side effects from treatments received.

Let’s take the story of Toni Rose Anderson.

In December of 2012, Toni was diagnosed with Stage 3-B cervical cancer.  After 6 sessions of the chemotherapy drug Cisplatin, 55 sessions of direct radiation on the spot of tumor (cervix), and 2 brachytherapy sessions (and about 15 grams of full extract cannabis oil – something she couldn’t get her hands on enough of) – Toni was said to be “okay”.  The tumor had shrunk and the doctors were watching it.  Then the side effects of the radiation took over.  The radiation cooked Toni’s intestines; cooked them to a point that she literally starved to death over a period of two years.  It was two years from the time that the first intestinal closure took place, until the time that she passed away.  Ultimately, it wasn’t the cancer that took her life in 2016, it was starvation as her body couldn’t absorb nutrients due to her intestines having been literally cooked inside of her from the doctor prescribed radiation treatments.

Toni Rose was a cancer patient, and although she suffered to the point where she ended up losing her life, she was never hit with the “terminal” tag until her last couple months, if that long.  A cancer patient for just over 3 years – one that suffered tremendously but would have never qualified for Texas’ idea of compassion under the Compassionate Use Act.

Allowing only cancer patients with a terminal diagnosis isn’t compassion.  Cancer patients who haven’t not been diagnosed terminal still suffer from many things – including pain,  nausea, not being able to eat and so, so much more.  Any and all cancer patients should have access to medical cannabis.  Period.  Toni suffered for years.  The world watched.  She would have never qualified under the “terminal” tag.  Texas needs a comprehensive medical cannabis program.  The quality of life for so many Texans depended on it.

Instead, Gov. Greg Abbott rather cancer patients suffer than have access to cannabis and by him signing a bill like this, it shows!

So a quick recap:

In 2015, Governor Abbott recognized cannabis as medicine with the signing of the Compassionate Use Act.
In 2019, Gov. Abbott says you have to be dying, if a cancer patient, to get in on some of that compassion.

It’s not a good look for you, Governor.  Not at all.