Grower sets new target date for medical marijuana product

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Louisiana’s only medical marijuana grower has set a new target date for product to be on the shelves after repeated delays due to procedural issues.

GB Sciences Executive Vice President John Davis says the group hopes to have the final product in March, but added the Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) is still testing the first crop. Davis says GB Sciences harvested the crop in October of 2018 and sent it for testing on Nov. 16, expecting results by the end of 2018.

A spokesperson for LDAF says the department has completed testing for metals and potency and is currently testing for pesticides. They will round out their tests by looking for solvents and other toxins “within two to three weeks."

After that, the product will return to GB Sciences, which will extract the medicine and begin making a finished product, which must also be tested by LDAF.

Meanwhile, thousands of doctors and patients in Louisiana do not have a clear idea when they will be able to prescribe and receive medicine.

“Last year, it was supposed to start, then they put it off, then they put it off again, and now it’s put off again,” potential patient, Robert Townsend, said. “I’m thinking, ‘Damn, I might not even live this out.’ But it’d be cool if I did.”

Townsend has had four different types of cancer in the last 15 years. He’s had operations to remove his thyroid and a kidney, and suffers from diabetes and chronic pain from a compound fracture in his leg.

“There’s people [worse] off than me,” he said. “They need it. There’s kids out there with cancer. They need it.”

Copyright 2019 WAFB. All rights reserved.