The Louisiana Senate has voted to expand the list of conditions that qualify a patient to use medicinal cannabis. The state’s new medical marijuana program will be launching this summer. The Senate passed two measures adding additional serious medical conditions that qualify a patient for the program on Wednesday.
The first, House Bill 579, passed in the Senate by a margin of 25-9. It adds glaucoma, severe muscle spasms, intractable pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, and Parkinson’s disease to the list of qualifying conditions.
The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in March by Rep. Ted James and Rep. Kenny Cox. The House approved the bill by a vote of 60-40 in April and then referred it to the Senate.
The Senate also passed another measure, House Bill 627, on Wednesday, by a vote of 21-10. That bill by Rep. Rodney Lyons adds autism spectrum conditions to the list. It also was introduced in the House in March and passed by a vote of 71-21 in April.
The House will hold a concurrence vote on both bills on May 16 to approve amendments added in the Senate. The measures will then head to Governor John Bel Edwards for his signature.
MMJ Law Passed in 2016
The State of Louisiana first passed medical marijuana legislation back in 1978. But that law required doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis, which would jeopardize their licenses from the federal government to prescribe other drugs. Consequently, the law had no benefit for patients.
So in 2016, lawmakers set out to rectify the situation and passed Senate Bill 271 (SB271). That law authorizes patients with at least one specific “debilitating medical condition” access to medical marijuana. The original list included cancer, HIV and AIDS, cachexia or wasting syndrome, seizure disorders, epilepsy, spasticity, Crohn’s disease, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis as qualifying conditions.