Medical marijuana won't be available for Louisiana patients in mid-May, but June is a possibility

Medical marijuana will not be available to patients by a mid-May deadline the state’s licensed dispensing pharmacies had demanded. But it is possible the medicine could be on the shelves in June.

Officials with the LSU AgCenter said at a medical marijuana stakeholder meeting Friday they aim to send their final product to state regulators by the end of May, though it would have to go through regulatory steps before hitting the shelves.

Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain said he could not put a specific timeline on how long testing will take, but said it will be faster than the first round of testing done in recent months because it is far less complicated. Strain is in charge of regulating the growing of medical marijuana in the state.

Still, both LSU and the agriculture department shied away from giving a specific date for when product will be available to patients. LSU said they don’t have control over how long testing will take, and Strain said his agency will test it “as soon as they get it to us.”

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