With only a few doctors signing up to dispense medical marijuana, Louisiana regulators are considering whether to change the rules limiting how many cannabis patients each doctor can treat.
Louisiana’s State Board of Medical Examiners has set a limit of 100 medical marijuana patients per physician, with individual exemptions for more. Vincent Culotta, the board’s executive director, says the cap could be boosted higher at the panel’s September meeting amid concerns it’s too low.
Only 40 doctors have submitted applications for the Louisiana permit required to offer medical-grade pot to patients, with 23 approved so far.
That has created the potential for a bottleneck for patients seeking marijuana, particularly after state lawmakers added more medical conditions that can be treated with cannabis when the product becomes available later this year.
The growing process was also delayed when there were problems finalizing the Louisiana Department of Agriculture’s regulations for growing.
LSU AgCenter and its growing partner GB Sciences had planned for medical marijuana products to be available for the select-few approved pharmacies by September, but now it will most likely be ready in November. Â
