For the past decade, the use of marijuana for medical purposes has been legal in Louisiana. And yet, there is still no legal way to distribute it.
According to the Criminal Defense Lawyer website, “Louisiana has a law on the books that allows medical marijuana use by patients with diagnosed glaucoma or spastic quadriplegia, and patients suffering from symptoms related to chemotherapy cancer treatment. The law, 40 La. Rev. Stat. 1046, allows a physician to prescribe marijuana for these therapeutic uses but does not specifically list protections from prosecution, for doctors or patients.”
This issue was complicated once again when Louisiana legislators killed legal framework meant to set down rules for the distribution of medical marijuana. The main reasoning behind this seems to be because the Food and Drug Administration has never approved marijuana as a medical treatment. As a result, marijuana continues to be seen as bad news. Some people do not believe there is enough evidence to prove marijuana is any good to use in a medical setting.
Say what you want about whether or not marijuana should be made legal altogether, but within the realm of medicine, it has more than proven its usefulness. According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws website, it “has been part of humanity’s medicine chest for almost as long as history has been recorded.” It contains many benefits for those suffering from cancer and glaucoma, among other illnesses: pain relief, nausea relief and increased appetite. In addition, some researchers have found evidence that “marijuana’s medicinal properties may protect the body against some types of malignant tumors and are neuroprotective.”
It’s not only researchers who are singing praises to medical cannabis. In an article for The Advocate, more than one patient who had been using marijuana as part of their treatment felt it was making their condition more bearable and that little else has been as beneficial to their health and comfort.
An example of the benefits of this substances comes from a 2013 CNN story about a little girl named Charlotte Figi who suffered from Draven’s Syndrome. Her constant, debilitating epileptic fits were alleviated by medical marijuana. These fits were so severe they had impeded her ability to talk and feed herself. Though her parents were warned not to give her marijuana lest it stunt her mental development, this has not been the case. Now, Charlotte takes two daily doses of cannabis oil, and the occurances of her seizures have significantly decreased to about twice a month.
Though there is no way to dispense marijuana legally, several therapeutic drugs already possess the substance. One such example is the FDA-approved drug Marinol, which is used for cancer patients seeking to increase their appetite while simultaneously decreasing nausea. Even so, some experts feel these prescriptions made from extracts of cannabis are not as beneficial since they lack certain compounds which make the drug so effective in therapeutic cases, according to the NORML website.
In the end, medical marijuana has proven itself to be a boon, and the law does so many disservices by suppressing its distribution. This isn’t about people getting high for mere pleasure or because it’s cool. This is about the comfort and wellbeing of sick people whose condition has been improved or made tolerable by this substance.