The Texas Department of Public Safety's Compassionate Use Registry of Texas, known as CURT, surpassed 60,000 active patients this month, according to the agency's program dashboard, more than double the roughly 28,000 patients enrolled before the 89th Legislature expanded qualifying conditions and allowed additional forms of medical cannabis in 2025. Texas Original, one of the state's three licensed dispensing organizations, opened its sixth satellite dispensing location in the Rio Grande Valley on September 15 to serve the growing patient base.
DPS updates the CURT enrollment count on its own program dashboard on a rolling basis; the 60,000-patient figure reflects the agency's most recent published update. Texas Original confirmed its new Rio Grande Valley satellite location opened September 15.
By the Numbers
Texas added chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and several other conditions to CURT's qualifying-condition list as part of the 2025 legislative session, and it eased restrictions on smokable and inhaled forms of medical cannabis for registered patients. DPS's own program summary attributes much of the registry's growth directly to that expansion, since chronic pain alone is one of the most common qualifying diagnoses nationally in states with medical cannabis programs.
Texas licenses only three dispensing organizations statewide under the Compassionate Use Program, a far smaller retail footprint than most states with medical cannabis laws. Texas Original, Goodblend and a third licensed operator have each added satellite dispensing sites and delivery routes over the past year to reach patients outside the state's largest metro areas, though access outside Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio still generally requires a delivery order or a longer drive than in states with broader retail licensing.
Texas Original's new Rio Grande Valley location is its first satellite site south of San Antonio, a region that had previously required patients to order delivery or travel roughly three hours for an in-person visit.
Why It Matters
A 60,000-patient registry is still small next to states with adult-use markets, but the growth rate matters for a program that has historically been criticized for restrictive qualifying conditions and thin retail access. More qualifying patients and more physical dispensing locations both make it more likely that a Texan with a qualifying condition can actually find a registered physician and reach a dispensary, rather than qualifying on paper without a practical way to access product.
For patients evaluating their options, CannaWize's guides to Chronic Pain and Medical Cannabis in Texas and How to Get a Medical Marijuana Card in Texas walk through the registration process and the current qualifying-condition list. Patients weighing specific products can also read our Texas Original Vape Review and our Texas Original OG Kush Cartridge Review for firsthand notes on potency, dosing and availability at Texas Original's dispensing locations.
What Comes Next
DPS has not announced further changes to the qualifying-condition list, and any additional expansion would require new legislation from the Texas Legislature, which does not reconvene in regular session until 2027. Continued registry growth is likely to depend on how many registered physicians choose to participate and how quickly the state's three licensed dispensing organizations can keep adding satellite locations and delivery capacity.
The Bottom Line
Texas's Compassionate Use Registry has more than doubled since the 2025 qualifying-condition expansion, topping 60,000 active patients this month, and Texas Original's new Rio Grande Valley satellite location reflects licensed operators racing to keep pace with demand in a state that still limits medical cannabis retail to three dispensing organizations statewide.