Medical marijuana is legal in Louisiana! The Pelican State established Louisiana medical marijuana laws decades ago legalizing cannabis, and the first cannabis dispensary opened in Baton Rouge in August 2019. Since then, Louisiana's medical marijuana program has expanded to include more qualifying medical conditions and more cannabis products, including medical marijuana flower!
If you’re wondering how to get approved for medical marijuana in Louisiana, it’s actually quite simple. You just need a doctor’s recommendation. To receive approval in Louisiana, a certified Louisiana doctor needs to see that you’ve been diagnosed with a qualifying medical condition. Fortunately for Louisiana patients, a physician can recommend medical marijuana for any condition determined to improve with the use of therapeutic marijuana as a treatment! The following is a list of the most common Louisiana medical marijuana qualifying conditions:
Hospice or palliative care
Spinal muscular atrophy
Any debilitating condition if a physician believes a patient will benefit
Schedule an online medical marijuana evaluation appointment by calling us at (833) 253-2943.
Meet virtually with one of our Louisiana-certified medical marijuana physicians through telemedicine, to discuss your medical history.
With the doctor's approval, you'll receive your medical marijuana recommendation to start shopping at Louisiana dispensaries!
Now that you know how to get approved for medical marijuana in Louisiana, it’s time to learn more about what’s involved with the process. At the appointment, the first thing you and your Louisiana medical marijuana doctor will discuss is your condition as well as your medical history. It is helpful for your MMJ doctor if you can provide any relevant medical records documenting your qualifying condition. By providing your medical records at your appointment, you significantly increase the likelihood of receiving a medical marijuana approval from the doctor.
If your Louisiana medical marijuana doctor is able to confirm your qualifying condition and believes medical marijuana is an appropriate treatment option, you will receive a recommendation for medical marijuana products as part of your treatment plan.
Your Louisiana MMJ doctor will then send your cannabis recommendation to a licensed medical marijuana dispensary, where you can get access to treatment as a medical marijuana patient in the state of Louisiana. The doctor's signed certification will be used as the official medical marijuana patient ID document, allowing you to buy legal medical cannabis products from Louisiana dispensaries .
We are here to help if you have any questions about medical marijuana in Louisiana or if you need help obtaining your medical records for your evaluation. We even offer unlimited follow-up appointments with your medical marijuana doctor to help ensure that you are on the right track with your cannabis treatment plan.
An important part of knowing how to get approved for medical marijuana is knowing what information is required ahead of time. The following is required to visit a dispensary:
• The completed physician written certification must be submitted and received by the dispensary
• Photocopy of your Louisiana-issued driver’s license or state ID
We can’t guarantee approval for medical marijuana for anyone, as only the Louisiana marijuana doctor can determine qualifying patients. To make it more likely that you receive a certification for medical cannabis from the doctor, we recommend that you provide as much information as possible at your appointment regarding your condition, symptoms, and past treatments.
Medical marijuana products should always be purchased from a Louisiana-licensed dispensary . The Louisiana Board of Pharmacy supports the use of certain amounts of medical marijuana as a safe and effective method of treatment for many qualifying conditions. With your Louisiana medical marijuana recommendation in hand, you’ll be able to access all Louisiana dispensaries and purchase cannabis products tailored to meet your treatment needs.
When you have been approved for medical marijuana, you can choose any Louisiana dispensary to purchase tinctures, edibles, metered-dose inhalers (MDIs), medical marijuana distillate (RSO), and medical marijuana flower.
In some cases, you can even get medical marijuana delivered right to your home! A few Louisiana dispensaries offer convenient online ordering and delivery for medical marijuana patients in their region of the state.
Each licensed Louisiana dispensary offers a wide variety of medical cannabis products, providing each patient with the opportunity to obtain the perfect match of THC and CBD strength. They carry Indica and Sativa strains, and many products feature terpene blends to effectively manage your specific symptoms.
The best thing about buying medical marijuana from a Louisiana dispensary is that you know exactly what you are getting every time you shop. Pharmacists are responsible for dispensing cannabis products that are accurately labeled, and all products come through the agricultural departments at either Louisiana State University (LSU) or Southern University.