Inside Texas’ Tightest Market: A Look at the State’s Licensed Medical Operators and the Web of Influence Around Them
Texas’ relationship with cannabis is like a long, slow waltz with one foot nailed to the floor. The state’s Compassionate Use Program (CUP), launched in 2015 and run by the Department of Public Safety, permits only “low-THC” cannabis—capped around one percent—to be prescribed for a narrow band of conditions like epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and autism. Patients register in a state database; dispensaries deliver by courier. There are no open retail shelves, no flower jars under glass.
And in a state of nearly 30 million people, only three companies are allowed to grow, process, and dispense medical cannabis. Those licenses have created a small but powerful ecosystem—part medical provider, part lobbying bloc, part brand machine—whose influence ripples through both policy and public perception.
The Three License Holders
1. FLUENT (formerly Cansortium Texas)
Operating under the FLUENT Cannabis Care Texas banner, this is the local arm of FLUENT Corp.—a publicly traded, vertically integrated company (CSE: FNT.U / OTCQB: CNTMF). Texas President Kristopher “Kris” Kem oversees operations, while corporate headquarters in Florida manage the broader strategy.
The parent firm—previously Cansortium Inc.—runs medical cannabis programs in Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, and now New York after its 2024 acquisition of RIV Capital’s assets. FLUENT’s board includes executives with backgrounds in finance and agribusiness, signaling a tight link between institutional capital and patient access.
In Texas, the company is vocal in policy debates, releasing statements on failed cannabis reform bills and the limits of the CUP program.
2. Texas Original (formerly Compassionate Cultivation)
Founded in Austin and now headquartered in Bastrop, Texas Original brands itself as the only truly homegrown medical cannabis company. CEO Nico Richardson, an early investor turned leader, took over from Morris Denton in 2022.
Unlike its multi-state peers, Texas Original has focused its fundraising locally, pulling in $5.1 million (Series A) and $21 million (Series B) led by AFI Capital Partners and Pickwick Capital. The company’s Bastrop facility—an $8 million investment—anchors cultivation and production entirely within state lines.
Texas Original’s marketing hammers the “Texas grown, Texas made” ethos, positioning itself as both a business and a political statement: proof that medical cannabis can be Texan, not imported.
3. goodblend Texas (Surterra Texas LLC, owned by Parallel)
Once part of Surterra Wellness, this license now flies the goodblend flag under its parent company Parallel, a private multi-state operator with roots in Florida and Georgia.
Parallel’s past headline was its CEO—William “Beau” Wrigley Jr., heir to the chewing-gum empire—who drove a national expansion push and a $25 million investment in a 63,000-sq-ft cultivation and production facility in San Marcos. Although that SPAC deal and Wrigley himself have since exited, Parallel remains a deep-pocketed force with national operations.
goodblend’s Texas arm leans on those resources, combining local delivery with a nationwide supply chain and marketing infrastructure.
The Policy Web: Advocacy, Media, and Grassroots Ties
Surrounding these three firms is an ecosystem of advocacy groups and communicators shaping Texas’ slow-motion policy evolution.
Texas Cannabis Collective (TCC) sits near the center—an advocacy and media nonprofit led by Daryoush Austin Zamhariri, journalist Josh Kasoff, and veteran outreach director Shaun Salvaje. TCC produces the Lonestar Collective Podcast and partners with both Texas NORML and industry players like Power Biopharms and Sweet Sensi for events such as the Texas Cannabis Roundup.
Texas NORML, the state’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, bridges legislative activism and public education. TCC often co-hosts “Lobby Day” events at the Capitol, effectively merging advocacy with media coverage.
Sweet Sensi (Austin) and Power Biopharms (Fort Worth) represent the hemp side of the market—companies that don’t hold medical licenses but wield influence through consumer reach, event sponsorship, and lobbying against restrictive hemp legislation.
Notes
Oligopoly by design. Texas’ three-license system concentrates medical production power in a few hands, giving those entities enormous leverage—but also public-relations vulnerability.
Public tension. Hemp advocates often accuse license holders of lobbying for monopoly conditions, while licensees argue that restrictive rules—not greed—keep prices high and access low.
Political calculus. Each company has learned to operate not just as a business but as a public-affairs engine: releasing policy statements, sponsoring hearings, and cultivating allies in advocacy groups.
Emerging alliances. The overlap between TCC, NORML, and hemp producers hints at a future convergence where advocacy, commerce, and media blur together into one Texas-sized lobby for reform.
The Big Picture
Texas’ cannabis industry remains a paradox: a state that talks tough but quietly cultivates one of the most disciplined, investment-backed medical markets in the country. The three licensed players—FLUENT, Texas Original, and goodblend—are not simply dispensaries; they’re pillars of a controlled ecosystem defined by politics, capital, and compliance.
For anyone tracking this space, the story isn’t just about medicine—it’s about how a few companies, armed with money, patience, and good lawyers, are quietly shaping the next decade of Texas drug policy.
