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They were astounded by how quickly, and how well, the treatment worked. Across Texas, doctors and patients are now finally able to take advantage of a three-year-old law that makes cannabidiol oil, or CBD oil, available to some epilepsy patients. CBD oil is derived from the cannabis plant, also known as mar- ijuana. CBD oil provides symptom relief without intoxicating effects. A different substance in the plant, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is responsible for the high associated with cannabis. In June 2015, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law the Texas Compassionate Use Act after it passed both chambers of the state legislature by wide, bipartisan mar- gins. But it wasn't until late 2017 that the state issued full licenses to the only three businesses in Texas that can now legally provide CBD oil to prescribed patients. Meanwhile, doctors have been slow to sign up for the program as they navigate the new law. As of late June, just 42 physicians across Texas were registered with the state to become CBD oil prescrib- ers, including 12 in Harris County, though not all are prescribing CBD oil at this point. According to the Epilepsy Foundation of Texas, approximately 149,000 Texans have been diagnosed with the form of epilepsy that would make them eligible for the program. For many who have used CBD oil, the newly available treatment has provided relief when all else failed. About two thirds of epilepsy patients will respond to the first or second medicine they're given for epilepsy. But once an epilepsy patient has taken two different medicines without relief, the odds that a third med- ication will work are less than 1 percent, doctors say. That leaves other options, such as special diets, surgeries, device implementation—or CBD oil. "This can be really beneficial to patients," said Michael Watkins, M.D., assistant professor of pediatric neurology with McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). Watkins works at the Pediatric Epilepsy Clinic at UTHealth, where about 20 patients have been prescribed CBD oil. He said the stigma associated with tak- ing medicine derived from cannabis is fading. "Most people are looking for anything beneficial to prevent their kids from having seizures," Watkins said. Doctors, patients and advocates are quick to point out CBD oil isn't a miracle cure. It doesn't eradicate epilepsy and it doesn't help everyone. But for some patients, it can help eliminate or reduce their symptoms, and it may allow them to ease off of other drugs that have serious side effects, including anemia, low platelet lev- els, liver failure, pancreatitis, allergic reactions and suicidal tendencies. Before the Texas law took effect, many patients were trying CBD oil on their own by visiting other states or ordering it online, which is Top: Compassionate Cultivation partners with Xabis, a cannabis processing company, to extract, purify and distill CBD oil. Below: Taylor Kirk, director of cultivation, hangs cannabis to dry at Compassionate Cultivation. e p i l e p s y t r e at m e n t s