Baton Rouge: A southeastern US state, Louisiana bordering the Gulf of Mexico, on Tuesday became the first in Deep South to dispense therapeutic cannabis, four years after state lawmakers agreed to give patients access to it.
Nine pharmacies are licensed to dispense medical marijuana across the state and are expected to open this week.
Louisiana joined more than 30 other states that allow medical marijuana in some form.
US: Louisiana launches medical marijuana drive Although marijuana is banned at the federal level, a congressional amendment blocks the Justice Department from interfering with states' medical marijuana programs.Growblow Sciences, one of two state-sanctioned growers, began shipping medical marijuana to Louisiana's registered dispensaries from Tuesday morning after state regulators recently completed final tests and cleared it for release.Hundreds of patients in the state have been awaiting the start of the program after years of work by lawmakers, who created the regulatory framework in 2015 for dispensing the cannabis. There also have been regulatory disputes and other hurdles.A Marine veteran struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Gary Hess and a woman fighting cancer became some of the first people to purchase medical marijuana in the state.Only the Louisiana State University and Southern University Agricultural Center are authorized to grow medicinal-grade pot.
