First medical marijuana dispensary in Texas opens its doors just south of Austin

It’s the dawning of a new day for Texas patients who don’t get relief from modern medicine. The state’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened Thursday in Manchaca, which is 25 miles south of Downtown Austin.

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Compassionate Cultivation officially opened their doors four months after they received state approval. Their medical marijuana use license arrived on Halloween, which is when they planted their first seeds.

RELATED: What you need to know about medical marijuana in Texas

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“When I tell people this is happening in Texas, they’re like, ‘Are you kidding me? Texas?'” Compassionate Cultivation COO Garret Nicodemus told Eyewitness News. “I think more and more people are getting on board with it.”

The dispensary has five rooms for growing marijuana plants. The dispensary reportedly looks and feels like a doctor’s office rather than a smoke shop.

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Under the Texas Compassionate Use Act, the dispensary can now provide marijuana treatments to patients in need. The only treatment allowed in Texas is low-level THC cannabis oil that doesn’t get the user high.

According to Texas law, the only patients who can use the oil are those with intractable epilepsy. To get a prescription, patients must visit one of 17 approved doctors listed on the state’s Compassionate Use Registry. Doctors must have extensive experience with epilepsy in order to be on the registry.

If the patient is approved, they must get an approval for a second doctor before they can visit the dispensary. Fortunately, the state does not require the patient to visit the second doctor in person, so long as the doctor is confident in giving approval.

RELATED: Medical marijuana products closer than ever to selling in Texas

The doctor uploads the prescription into a state database, which qualifies the patient to visit the dispensary or to pay $25 to get their cannabis oil delivered by Compassionate Cultivation.

Patients in the Houston area have easy access to prescribing doctors, as five work in Harris County.

Compassionate Cultivation is not the only dispensary opening in Texas. Two others have been authorized by the state — Cansortium Texas and Surterra Texas.

This new medical service is limited to patients who are Texas residents.

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