Texas has no recreational cannabis program, so no social-equity licensing exists in Dallas County. The state's narrow Compassionate Use Program (CUP) licenses three dispensing organizations statewide with no equity preference. Counties cannot create cannabis licenses while state prohibition stands.
Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 481 classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance, with no recreational legalization framework. The Compassionate Use Program under H&S Code Chapter 487, administered by the Texas Department of Public Safety, licenses only three vertically integrated dispensing organizations to serve qualifying patients with low-THC cannabis. CUP applications use a competitive merit process with no social-equity weighting for Black, brown, prior-conviction, or low-income applicants. Dallas County government has no authority to create a parallel license while state law preempts the field. County zoning powers in unincorporated areas under TX Local Government Code Chapter 232 do not authorize a cannabis-license framework. Cities within the county are equally preempted.
Not applicable to licensing. Operating any unlicensed cannabis sales remains a felony under TX H&S Code Section 481.120, with penalties scaling from state-jail felony to first-degree felony, prosecuted by the Dallas County DA.
See how Garland's social equity licensing rules stack up against other locations.
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