Baton Rouge, LA: Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed legislation into law permitting licensed dispensaries to provide herbal formulations of cannabis to qualified patients.
House Bill 358 permits patients to obtain "medical marijuana in a form to be administered in a metered-dose inhaler." The new law takes effect on August 1, 2019.
Although lawmakers initially established rules regulating the production and dispensing of medical cannabis products in 2015, the law is yet to be fully operational.
In March, Florida lawmakers also repealed its blanket ban on the inhalation of herbal forms of medical cannabis.
NORML has long argued against limitations on the inhalation of herbal cannabis, opining that inhalation provides patients with the ability to self-titrate their dose and is associated with the rapid and consistent onset of drug effect.
For more information, contact Carly Wolf, NORML State Policies Coordinator, at (202) 483-5500.