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A quaint rural town perched midway between San Antonio and Houston, off Texas’ Highway 10, is about to see an increase in traffic come this December. No, the town of Schulenburg isn’t some popular holiday destination. But it is about to be the site of the first Texas cannabis dispensary.
As its name might suggest, Schulenburg, Texas, is a remote enclave of German culture. With a population hovering around 3,000, the small town is home to the Texas Polka Music Museum.
And in December, it will also become host to the first Texas cannabis dispensary.
The dispensary, Knox Medical, received its state license this summer. The owner, Jose Hidalgo, also runs licensed medical cannabis operations in Florida and Puerto Rico.
Hidalgo explained that he chose the sparsely-populated town for strategic reasons. In terms of logistics, the location puts him within a couple hours’ trip from Austin, Houston and San Antonio. Land is also a premium for Hidalgo’s grow operation.
“We require a large amount of land,” he said.
The grow operation and dispensary will be located on the same site. Hidalgo plans to produce his CBD-rich cannabis oil there.
According to Texas Public Radio, opinions on the dispensary vary among Schulenburg residents. Many didn’t seem to have much in the way of comment either way. But others expressed enthusiasm. Local barbecue and meat market owner Roy Smrkovsky said he hoped the state would continue to expand access to medical marijuana.
Smrkovsky’s wife suffers from chronic pain, a condition Texas has not yet approved for medical cannabis treatments.
“If it is for medicinal purposes, why suffer, why go through life and suffer,” Smrkovsky told TPR.
Other residents are looking forward to the dispensary bringing more traffic, jobs and boosting the local economy.
But Knox Medical plans to deliver orders of its CBD oil to registered patients in Texas. In other words, the Schulenburg dispensary won’t be a storefront.
Sales and deliveries are scheduled to begin be the end of the year. However, the slow licensing process could mean patients in Texas won’t be able to place orders until January 2018.
Texas legalized medical cannabis for a short list of conditions back in 2015. The Texas Compassionate Use Act only legalized growing, producing and selling a specific type of cannabis oil. According to the Act, the oil must have very low levels of THC and high CBD levels.
Two years later, Texas is finally licensing its first dispensaries. But the state’s Compassionate Care Act only applies to epilepsy patients. Proponents of access to medical cannabis remain disappointed with the law’s restrictions.
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