Texas does not allow recreational cannabis sales, so no social-equity licensing program exists in Harris County. The Compassionate Use Program through the Texas Department of Public Safety is the only legal cannabis license, and it has only three statewide medical dispensers with no equity preference.
Texas Health and Safety Code chapter 487 created the Compassionate Use Program, the state's only legal cannabis licensing scheme. Texas DPS has issued just three Compassionate Use licenses statewide, none in Harris County, and the law contains no equity preferences for legacy operators, communities harmed by drug enforcement, women, or minority owners. Recreational cannabis remains a Health and Safety Code chapter 481 controlled substance. Harris County cannot create a local equity license because state law occupies the field. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has reduced low-level prosecution, but no formal expungement or equity-licensing pipeline exists. Advocates push the legislature to add equity provisions if recreational sales are ever authorized.
Operating a cannabis business without a Texas DPS Compassionate Use license is a state-jail felony or higher under Health and Safety Code chapter 481, with fines up to ten thousand dollars and prison time, plus federal Controlled Substances Act penalties.
Harris County, TX
Harris County has no cannabis buffer-zone rules because Texas does not license recreational dispensaries. The state Compassionate Use Program issued only thr...
Harris County, TX
Harris County cannot zone for recreational cannabis because Texas allows only three medical Compassionate Use dispensers statewide. Consumable hemp and CBD r...
Harris County, TX
Recreational cannabis dispensaries are illegal in Texas. Harris County follows state law prohibiting marijuana sales. Only licensed Compassionate Use Program...
See how Harris County's social equity licensing rules stack up against other locations.
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