Texas Medical Marijuana Industry Grows Rapidly With New Patients, Operators and Expanded Access

12 January 2026

Texas is entering a transformative moment in its medical marijuana landscape as the state’s Compassionate Use Program, long one of the most restrictive in the country expands and begins to reshape the industry, patient access and business opportunities in 2026. What only a few years ago was a tightly limited program intended primarily for patients with intractable epilepsy now serves well over 135,000 Texans with a wider variety of qualifying conditions, and the first signs of a more robust medical cannabis market are taking hold across the state.

In September 2025, after years of incremental changes and political resistance, Texas implemented the most substantial expansion of its medical marijuana law since the Compassionate Use Program was created in 2015. Lawmakers broadened the list of eligible conditions to include chronic pain, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, traumatic brain injury and terminal illness, among others, while also allowing for new treatment options such as prescribed inhalers and higher permissible THC limits in medical products. These changes have begun to unlock new possibilities for patients and providers alike, bringing fresh energy to a program that for years remained comparatively narrow in scope.

The Texas Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Compassionate Use Registry, reported that by the end of 2025 there were 135,470 patients listed by their physiciansl, a roughly 32 percent increase over the previous year illustrating how word of expanded eligibility and treatments is bringing more Texans into the fold of legal medical cannabis. Dispensaries and distributors across the state attribute much of this growth to broader awareness of the law and the potential for relief it offers, particularly for patients who had previously struggled to find effective treatments under older, more restrictive rules.

Texas Original, one of the longstanding medical marijuana companies already operating in the state, has seen that shift firsthand. Nico Richardson, CEO of Texas Original, explained that the high regulatory costs of the program in the past kept patient prices steep and limited the industry’s reach. But with the regulatory burden spread over a larger, more diverse program, the marginal cost of product is now becoming more manageable, a change Richardson thinks will help lower prices further. The company has responded by expanding operations, including moving into a larger cultivation and distribution facility in Bastrop and planning satellite storage and distribution points in all 11 Texas public health regions within the next six months. This distributed infrastructure allows for faster deliveries and lowers overhead, making the entire system more efficient.

Other key medical marijuana stakeholders are also growing their footprints. Goodblend, an Austin-based cannabis company, has opened its first satellite location in San Antonio offering same-day order pickup and plans additional expansion to reach rural areas that have historically lacked access. Jervonne Singletary, a spokesperson for the company, noted that new products and formats, especially in vaporization, could be launched in the coming months, broadening treatment options for patients and aligning Texas more closely with medical markets in other states.

Under House Bill 46, passed in 2025, the number of licensed dispensary operators is set to grow significantly. The law allows up to 15 dispensing organizations, an increase from just three, and by April 1, 2026, additional licenses will be issued. The first phase of that rollout has already begun, with provisional licenses awarded to nine new medical marijuana operators by the Department of Public Safety. These businesses have up to two years to become fully operational once final state approval is granted, but industry insiders project that many could be active within nine to twelve months, bringing new competition, products and services to the Texas medical cannabis market.

Despite the progress, some obstacles remain. One persistent challenge is the limited number of medical providers registered to prescribe cannabis under the Compassionate Use Program. Out of tens of thousands of board-certified physicians in the state, only a small fraction are registered to participate in the program, limiting access points for new patients. Industry leaders and advocates suggest that increasing education and awareness among healthcare professionals could unlock further growth by making it easier for patients to obtain legitimate medical recommendations and enrollment in the Compassionate Use Registry.

Beyond dispensaries and prescribing providers, federal policy trends could also influence the state market. In late 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to expedite the rescheduling of marijuana from a Schedule I drug placing it alongside heroin and LSD to Schedule III, similar to ketamine and certain steroids. Although this federal rescheduling does not legalize recreational cannabis nationwide, it reduces regulatory barriers and may improve banking access for cannabis businesses, lower industry tax burdens and catalyze investment. Those developments are being watched closely in Texas, where local entrepreneurs and market observers see potential long-term benefits from a more favorable federal landscape.

The evolving medical marijuana market in Texas reflects a significant shift in a state long known for conservative drug policies. Where once access was limited to a small group of patients with narrowly defined conditions, the program now serves tens of thousands with diverse health issues, supported by a growing network of licensed operators and expanded product lines. As more dispensaries open, more patients enroll and more providers adopt medical cannabis into their practice, Texas could emerge as a major player in the national medical marijuana landscape, especially in the South where few states offer similar access.