Louisiana: Medical Cannabis Access to Begin Next Week

Originally published at blog.NORML.org

Qualified patients are anticipated to finally begin accessing medical cannabis products next week, according to a statement issued by regulators at the state’s Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF).

Lawmakers initially approved the establishment of the state’s medical cannabis access program in 2015, but its rollout has faced numerous delays. Under the law, licensed cannabis products may only be grown and manufactured by operations affiliated with two of the state’s universities, LSU and Southern University. Nine pharmacies throughout the state are designated to provide cannabis products.

The first products to be available to patients are cannabis-infused tinctures. Those products are expected to be available in select pharmacies on Tuesday. “We are very excited to announce today that LSU’s … final medical marijuana product has passed all testing for immediate release to the medical marijuana pharmacies,” LDAF Commissioner Mike Strain said. “We wish to thank all persons involved who have worked tirelessly from inception though production and testing to make this a reality.”

Although the law initially limited cannabis preparations to non-herbal formulations only, legislation enacted this year also now permits patients to obtain marijuana “in a form to be administered by metered-dose inhaler.”

Patients may be eligible for medical cannabis products if they are diagnosed with cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, pots traumatic stress, or other qualifying ailments.