Robert Celt
New Member
A bill passed this week by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee would expand the number of conditions that would qualify Louisiana patients to get medical marijuana once the drug is available.
There's still plenty of questions about who will produce the drug and where it'll be dispensed. But one thing is clear: In order for medical marijuana to work as a business model, the state needs to create a much larger pool of patients that will be able to purchase the drug from the 10 pharmacies now allowed under the law.
Under a law approved last year, there are just three conditions that would qualify patients for medical marijuana: glaucoma, symptoms resulting from chemotherapy cancer treatment, and spastic quadriplegia.
But supporters of medical marijuana always expected those conditions to be expanded, especially since the parents of children suffering from other conditions have worked with the law's author, state Sen. Fred Mills, to get legislation passed.
Mills, a Republican from Parks, originally proposed some new conditions that were broader than what's in the bill now. The language concerned Louisiana sheriffs and district attorneys associations, so the list was narrowed and the language tightened.
Here's a list of the conditions under the current bill, and the number of other states that allow those conditions under medical marijuana laws.
Cancer (24 states)
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (21 states)
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (22 states)
Cachexia, or wasting syndrome (19 states)
Seizure disorders (21 states)
Epilepsy (21 states)
Severe muscle spasms (20 states)
Spasticity (no states, but recommended by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners)
Crohn's Disease (15 states)
Multiple Sclerosis (22 states)
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: What Conditions Could Warrant Medical Marijuana In Louisiana?
Author: Kevin Litten
Contact: NOLA
Photo Credit: None found
Website: NOLA
There's still plenty of questions about who will produce the drug and where it'll be dispensed. But one thing is clear: In order for medical marijuana to work as a business model, the state needs to create a much larger pool of patients that will be able to purchase the drug from the 10 pharmacies now allowed under the law.
Under a law approved last year, there are just three conditions that would qualify patients for medical marijuana: glaucoma, symptoms resulting from chemotherapy cancer treatment, and spastic quadriplegia.
But supporters of medical marijuana always expected those conditions to be expanded, especially since the parents of children suffering from other conditions have worked with the law's author, state Sen. Fred Mills, to get legislation passed.
Mills, a Republican from Parks, originally proposed some new conditions that were broader than what's in the bill now. The language concerned Louisiana sheriffs and district attorneys associations, so the list was narrowed and the language tightened.
Here's a list of the conditions under the current bill, and the number of other states that allow those conditions under medical marijuana laws.
Cancer (24 states)
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (21 states)
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (22 states)
Cachexia, or wasting syndrome (19 states)
Seizure disorders (21 states)
Epilepsy (21 states)
Severe muscle spasms (20 states)
Spasticity (no states, but recommended by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners)
Crohn's Disease (15 states)
Multiple Sclerosis (22 states)
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: What Conditions Could Warrant Medical Marijuana In Louisiana?
Author: Kevin Litten
Contact: NOLA
Photo Credit: None found
Website: NOLA
