Texas' first CBD dispensary to open in December

In two months, Texans with epilepsy who do not respond to traditional treatments will be able to legally purchase medical cannabis. The dispensary will open in the town of Schulenburg, which until now has been best known for its dance halls, polka, and kolaches, a pastry filled with sausage.

The Knox Medical clinic received its license this summer. Its owner already runs medical cannabis businesses in Florida and in Puerto Rico.

The cannabis cultivation facility and the dispensary will be located on the same site, with a few unique features. The Texas Compassionate Use Act, which is very restrictive, currently allows only the sale of’cannabis oil with very low THC levels and no limit on CBD. And there won't be a store in the traditional sense. The oil will be delivered directly to patients in Texas.

According to Texas Public Radio (TPR), opinions about the clinic vary among Schulenburg’s 3,000 residents. Many don’t really have an opinion or don’t want to talk about it. Others, however, express their enthusiasm.

Roy Smrkovsky, a local entrepreneur, hopes the state will expand its medical cannabis program. His wife suffers from chronic pain, a condition that does not currently qualify her for medical cannabis.

«If it's for medical purposes, why suffer? Why live and suffer?» he told TPR.

The clinic could also bring in a few more visitors, create a few jobs, and boost the local economy.

The first sales are scheduled for the end of the year, but Texas’s slow bureaucracy could push them back to early 2018.