First Recipient of Medical Marijuana in Texas 6-year-old With Epilepsy

A Shulenberg medical marijuana dispensary has officially issued the state's first legal shipment of concentrated bud.

Knox Medical, a national medical marijuana company, set up shop in the small town of Shulenberg (a town at the halfway point between Houston and San Antonio on I-10) in September. It became the first of three state-approved dispensaries to open in Texas under the 2016 Compassionate Use Act, a law legalizing the sale of cannabis-based medical products to the estimated 150,000 Texans with intractable epilepsy — a name for having epileptic seizures that can't be controlled with medical treatment.

On Thursday, Knox announced its first shipment of the low-THC, high-CBD liquid to a local 6-year-old girl with epilepsy.

"Patients deserve medical relief and Knox Medical is proud to work with physicians and caregivers, and in close coordination with the Texas Department of Public Safety, to provide this medicine that exceeds the most rigorous standards for quality and consistency," said José Hidalgo, CEO of Florida-based Knox Medical, in a press release. "This is a historic day for Texas and we will work tirelessly to uphold the trust and responsibility the state has placed in Knox Medical."

Patients eligible for the newly legal oil must receive a recommendation from a board-certified neurologist and a second independent physician. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, there are currently only 15 doctors legally allowed to prescribe medical marijuana in Texas.