Medical marijuana is rapidly gaining popularity in Louisiana.
More patients joined the program than ever before in the first three months of this year, which coincided with the more popular smokable flower products becoming legal Jan. 1.
And the number of prescriptions bought by those patients soared to unprecedented levels, up nearly 600% from the same period last year.
The figures, released Friday by the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy, indicate Louisiana’s program, which was once a small, highly restrictive quirk, is fast becoming a big business.
The number of patients who purchased a marijuana product in the first quarter of this year hit 29,030, a 60% jump from the end of 2021. The number of prescriptions sold more than doubled, from 67,000 to 147,000, over the same period.
When marijuana tinctures hit the shelves of special marijuana pharmacies in 2019, as the only legally available form of the drug, the uptake was slow. As recently as this time last year, fewer than 10,000 patients were taking part in the program.
Those involved in the program say that’s largely due to tight restrictions that were added to make the legislation palatable to a conservative Legislature and the influential law enforcement groups that were skeptical at the time the program was created.
But in the years since, lawmakers have taken several steps to loosen the rules.
Initially, only patients with a list of serious illnesses, like AIDS or cancer, were eligible, but lawmakers slowly eased up on those rules. In 2020, the Legislature passed a law to let doctors recommend marijuana to patients for any ailment they deem debilitating.
Last year, lawmakers agreed to legalize the smokable flower, which is the most popular version of the drug. That law took effect Jan. 1, and pharmacies added it alongside the vapes, tinctures and gummies they had on the shelves.
The state licensed the LSU and Southern agriculture centers as the only two growers of medical marijuana, and both hired private companies to do the work. LSU’s growing partner, Good Day Farm, estimates the market will ramp up over the next few years before leveling off at around 110,000 patients, or a little over 2% of the population.
“The long-term question is, is it going to plateau off like other states?” said Danny Ford, who represents some of the state’s marijuana pharmacies through the Louisiana Association for Therapeutic Alternatives. “We anticipate at some point it will level off to a certain extent.”
Ford attributed the big upticks to the new flower products hitting the market. At the beginning of the year, some pharmacies saw hours-long waits and huge lines of patients waiting for products. Ford said many of the pharmacies have embraced online ordering to sort through the massive demand.
Lawmakers are considering a slew of proposals to change the state’s program in the legislative session that began last month. The most hotly contested bills would expand the number of growing licenses to let more businesses into the program. Lawmakers are also set to consider whether to license more pharmacies that can sell the drug to patients; currently there are only nine.
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