A bill that would allow any condition to be treated with medical marijuana is gaining momentum in Louisiana’s Legislature. The bill would also allow any doctor in good standing to recommend the drug where a recommendation acts as a prescription.
Members of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved House Bill 819 by Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall this week to expand treatable conditions.
With full approval in the House, the bill now heads to the full Senate for debate.
Senate Health Chairman Fred Mills, R-Parks, whose legislation ushered in the first laws making the medicine available to Louisiana patients, is in support of the expansion.
“A lot of good results have happened,” Mills said. “Many more patients have said, ‘Why not me?’ Accessibility has become big issue.”
The bill opens up all conditions with the following line: “Any condition not otherwise specified in present law or proposed law that a physician, in his medical opinion, considers debilitating to an individual patient and is qualified through his medical education and training to treat.”
