Texas Original, the state’s largest medical marijuana provider, has opened a brick-and-mortar store at 1714 Houston Ave. near The Heights. Offering a full range of cannabis products including gummies, tinctures and lozenges, the 1,776-square-foot location provides patients who typically have prescription delivered to their homes with another option.
Since delivery customers must to be present to sign and verify their identity, the new location will allow them to pick up prescriptions when it's convenient.
Patients will still need to verify their identity at the store, but the process should take less than five minutes, according to company boss Morris Denton.
Texas Originals is prohibited by state law from stocking medical marijuana at the store, so walk-in orders for same-day pick-up aren't possible. Prescriptions for pick-up need to be shipped each day from the company’s Austin dispensary.
Texas Original already has 13 pick-up locations across the state, but most – including those in Katy and near north Houston – only offer pick-up one day each week.
The company says more Houston locations may open in the future.
More than 16,000 Texans are eligible to obtain medical marijuana, according to the Department of Public Safety which oversees the state’s compassionate use program. Physicians registered with the program can prescribe low-tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) cannabis for medical use. The program is open to individuals with epilepsy, seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), spasticity, autism, cancer, incurable neurodegenerative diseases, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
A new Texas law passed last year doubled the amount of THC allowed in medical marijuana to 1 percent.
The new store is open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Orders must be placed by 5 p.m. for pick up the following day.