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Louisiana Launching Medical Marijuana After Years of Waiting

Associated Press

   BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - A Marine veteran struggling with PTSD and a
   woman fighting cancer became some of the first people to purchase
   medical marijuana in Louisiana on Tuesday, as the state became the
   first in the 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
   Louisiana and most are expected to open this week. Louisiana joins more
   than 30 other states that allow medical marijuana in some form. And
   though marijuana is banned at the federal level, a congressional
   amendment blocks the Justice Department from interfering with states'
   medical marijuana programs.

   A 41-year-old combat veteran from Belle Chasse, Louisiana, made his
   purchase at Capitol Wellness Solutions on Tuesday. He said he'd tried
   medical marijuana in California and it changed his life but he was
   happy to be able to purchase it in his home state.

   "It has become a reality to my family this morning, waking up and
   knowing that I would be able to go home and for the first time in my
   long struggle, I'll be able to do this legally in front of my family,"
   Gary Hess told reporters before making his purchase. "That's
   incredible."

   GB Sciences, one of two state-sanctioned growers, began shipping
   medical marijuana to Louisiana's registered dispensaries Tuesday
   morning, after state regulators recently completed final tests and
   cleared it for release. Hundreds of patients in Louisiana 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.

   State Sen. Fred Mills, a pharmacist in St. Martin Parish who sponsored
   the medical marijuana law, never thought it would take years for
   patients to gain access. He said he has repeatedly received "difficult
   calls" from people with cancer, seizures and other debilitating
   conditions and their family members asking when cannabis will reach
   pharmacy shelves.

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