Green Thumb Industries Inc (CNSX: GTII) (OTCMKTS: GTBIF) (FRA: R9U2) and Cresco Labs Inc (CNSX: CL) (OTCMKTS: CRLBF) (FRA: 6CQ) will soon enter the Texas medical cannabis market, bringing new know-how to the state’s growing Compassionate Use Program.
The Texas Department of Public Safety awarded conditional vertically integrated licenses to the two multi-state operators in early April. Green Thumb, operating through its RISE Dispensaries brand, and Cresco Labs now hold permits that will eventually allow them to cultivate, process, and dispense medical cannabis products. They join Texas Medica Collective in this latest round of approvals.
These newcomers add to an already expanding field. Trulieve Cannabis Corp (OTCMKTS: TCNNF) (CNSX: TRUL) (FRA: T0A) and Verano Holdings Corp (OTCMKTS: VRNOF) (FRA: 76U0) received preliminary approvals in December. These public cannabis operators must still complete financial, legal and operational reviews before they can begin sales. They face a 24-month deadline to launch operations or risk losing their permits.
Meanwhile, the original three dispensing organizations — Texas Original, goodblend and Fluent — continue to build out their operations. They have been expanding aggressively across the state’s public health regions to improve access. Texas Original opened a large cultivation and processing facility in Bastrop and added satellite pickup locations in cities including Plano and San Antonio. goodblend launched same-day pickup in San Antonio and introduced new vaporization products.
Patient numbers in Texas climbed above 135,000 by the end of 2025, reflecting a 32 per cent increase from the previous year. Recent program changes expanded qualifying conditions to include chronic pain, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, traumatic brain injury and terminal illnesses.
Lawmakers have also raised THC limits to 10 milligrams per dose and 1,000 milligrams per package while approving inhalers for easier use.
Despite this progress, the program still reaches fewer than half a per cent of Texas’s roughly 31 million residents. Only about 800 of the state’s 80,000 board-certified physicians register to recommend cannabis. House Bill 46, signed in 2025, drives the current expansion by increasing the number of licenses to 15 and easing some regulatory burdens.
The entry of Green Thumb and Cresco Labs signals continued growth in a state that maintains one of the country’s stricter medical-only cannabis frameworks while steadily widening access under the compassionate use model.
Read more: Teamsters secure improved contract at Cresco Labs dispensary through strike action
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