BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana’s first legal crop of medical cannabis can be planted.
Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain, whose agency regulates the burgeoning industry, loosened a regulatory logjam that created a monthslong delay.
The Monroe News-Star reported that Strain’s team met with Louisiana State University AgCenter Chancellor Bill Richardson and the head of LSU’s marijuana contractor, GB Sciences, on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018, to clear the path for production.
Strain expects to give GB Sciences a “temporary go-ahead” after a final inspection Thursday. The crop could then be planted in a temporary portion of the growing facility.
GB Sciences President John Davis says the company expects to plant a crop Friday, Aug. 17, 2018.
Davis says cannabis takes about three months to mature, so the first product isn’t expected to be available to patients until November 2018, months later than originally projected.
