Southern University in Baton Rouge will offer a line of THC
and CBD-based medical marijuana products in Louisiana. Southern, which is one
of the only institutions in the state authorized to grow marijuana, is set to
unveil its merchandise this Wednesday, July 1, WAFB9 reports.
The university became the first historically black college
or university (HBCU) to develop commercial medical marijuana back in January,
with a hemp-based product they released at that time.
It might seem strange that an academic institution would be
engaged in retail business, but Southern is on the production-, not the
distribution-side of things. The university's partner, Ilera Holistic
Healthcare, gets the medical marijuana to the pharmacies, where patients with
the requisite prescription can purchase it.
In case you were wondering how medical marijuana came to be
legal in a conservative state like Louisiana, the Agriculture Improvement Act
of 2018, a piece of federal legislation, authorized the use of hemp-derived CBD
in all 50 states.
Current Louisiana law limits medical marijuana as a
treatment for 16 medical conditions. It also imposes a cap on the number of
healthcare officials allowed to recommend THC- and CBD-derived medicines.
As a testament to how far the country has moved on this
issue in a short number of years, Governor Edwards has signed a bill allowing
any Louisiana physician to recommend therapeutic cannabis to patients suffering
from any "debilitating" condition. This law goes into effect in August.
