(Austin, TX) —  A bill passed by the Texas House on Monday night to increase the number of Texans with access to medical marijuana now goes to the Senate.

Under the state’s Compassionate Use Program, only patients with intractable epilepsy can use medical marijuana with small amounts of THC.  If the bill becomes law, it would expand that list of qualifying conditions by more than a dozen, including autism, cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and PTSD.

Last week, a bill passed by the Texas House lowering the punishment for small quantities of marijuana was stopped dead in it’s tracks by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, who refused to let the Senate take it up for a vote.