Two colleges in Louisiana are the only entities that are authorized to produce medical marijuana for patients.
Only the agricultural centers at Southern and Louisiana State University are authorized to grow medical marijuana in Louisiana, and only nine dispensaries can provide it to patients.
It was in June that Southern University said it expected to join Louisiana State in rolling out its first product line and it announced this month that it has started making its products to the state’s dispensaries for sale to patients.
Ilera Holistic Healthcare is the company that grows marijuana for Southern University’s agricultural center and it has launched its therapeutic cannabis brand, called AYO.
The university says it’s the first historically Black college to have its own brand of medical cannabis products.
It was in June that Louisiana lawmakers greatly expanded the medical marijuana program to allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana for any patient they believe it would help, and to remove restrictions on which doctors can recommend cannabis.
