In the second quarter of 2022, the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP) grew at a fairly steady rate of 10%. Over the first six months of 2022, the registered TCUP patient number increased from 16,403 at the end of 2021 to 29,082 at the end of June 2022. This is an average of 10% month over month growth rate. In other words, the number of patients in TCUP almost doubled since the start of this year, and as noted correctly by MJBizDaily, it almost quadrupled from last year.
The TCUP medical doctor registration numbers slowed down in April to 1.7% and then increased in May to 3.6% month over month growth. Over 80 physicians have joined TCUP in 2022, with the current total of 601 physicians prescribing medical cannabis in Texas. This is close to an average of 50 patients per doctor in the program.
Medical cannabis for Texans is still supplied by just two licensed companies. In a recent Benzinga Cannabis interview with the CEO of Texas Compassionate Cultivation, Morris Denton – one of the licensed medical cannabis producers – stated that the company currently has upwards of 70% of the total legal medical cannabis market share (interview link). Given the TCUP numbers, this means that currently a single operator is providing medicine to 20,000 plus patients. These are patients all over the state of Texas, with an area spanning 268,597 square miles. Imagine if there was one pharmacy that was producing medicine and had to deliver it to over 20,000 patients every day in such a vast territory.
“…new TCUP grow and dispensary licenses should be expanded this fall to meet the growing needs of the community.”
Given the predicted doubling of patient numbers in Texas by the end of this year, it is a growing concern that Texas may reach a tipping point in which the program is trying to catch up with the patient population. Thus, it is clear that new TCUP grow and dispensary licenses should be expanded this fall to meet the growing needs of the community. This will ensure the program is run prudently and effectively for years to come with a variety of reliable, local operators producing top quality medicine.
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