Louisiana's medical marijuana legislation slides through Senate, headed to House

The Louisiana Legislature on Monday (May 4) moved closer to authorizing pharmacies to dispense medical marijuana to patients in Louisiana. The Senate rubber-stamped the legislation, which spells out how the state's medical marijuana industry would work, by a vote of 22-13.

If the bill is adopted into law, those with a prescription could obtain the drug in non-smokable form at one of 10 dispensaries across the state. The version of the bill that passed Monday authorizes one growing site. It also restricts the use of medical marijuana to patients suffering from glaucoma, spastic quadriplegia and for those undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer.

While the Legislature legalized marijuana for medical purposes 1978 and then again in 1991, there's no mechanism in current law that allows for the legal dispensing of the drug. The Department of Health and Hospitals was supposed to write rules for dispensing it nearly a quarter century ago, but the agency never did. Doctors can legally prescribe it, patients can legally use it, but patients can't access it in the state legally. In short, the system lacks a middleman. Senate Bill 143, sponsored by Sen. Fred Mills, R-New Iberia, gives authority to state boards to set rules regulating a tightly constrained cultivation and dispensary system.

Three agencies would have rule-making authority: the Louisiana Board of Medical Examiners would set rules about prescriptions, Louisiana Board of Pharmacy would set rules about dispensaries; and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture would set rules for a single grow site.

Gov. Bobby Jindal indicated as recently as two weeks ago he is open to signing legislation legalizing medical marijuana dispensaries -- as long as the industry is tightly regulated.

Read more: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/05/medical_marijuana_louisinaa_le.html

Cross-posted in the Louisiana Group.