2017 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 197
BY SENATOR MARTINY
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Centers at New Orleans
and Shreveport, the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and the Louisiana State
University and Southern University Agricultural Centers to pursue opportunities for
basic research, applied research, and clinical trials to evaluate the safety and clinical
efficacy of marijuana for therapeutic use.
WHEREAS, Act No. 96 of the 2016 Regular Session of the legislature authorizes
access to therapeutic marijuana for patients with specific debilitating conditions including
cancer, human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, cachexia
or wasting syndrome, seizure disorders, epilepsy, spasticity, Crohn's disease, muscular
dystrophy, or multiple sclerosis; and
WHEREAS, the populations of patients who have these conditions are particularly
vulnerable and include children, persons who are elderly, and others who are in great need
of consumer protections and quality healthcare; and
WHEREAS, a pronounced and growing need exists for development of national
standards for proper utilization, dosage levels, and other drug protocols for therapeutic
marijuana; and
WHEREAS, the United States Food and Drug Administration, referred to hereafter
as the "FDA", has indicated that scientifically valid investigations and well-controlled
clinical trials which produce evidence-based research are necessary in order for the agency
to determine the safety and efficacy of marijuana for medical treatment; and
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WHEREAS, the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners communicated a
similar position in this segment of a report concerning therapeutic marijuana that it issued
to the legislative committees on health and welfare in January of 2016: "In order to insure
the public health, safety, and welfare the board suggests that therapeutic marijuana. . . should
be subject to the same evidence-based review and regulatory oversight as other medications
prescribed by physicians. Indeed, only in this manner will the legislature, the board,
physicians, and the public be in a position to evaluate the efficacy of its use in connection
with a given disease or condition. To accomplish this task, it is necessary that the potentially
therapeutic chemicals in marijuana must be purified and tested in randomized, double-blind,
placebo-controlled clinical trials"; and
WHEREAS, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration currently
authorizes only one marijuana production facility in the nation, but has announced that it
intends to expand the number of authorized entities it will register to grow and distribute
marijuana for FDA-sanctioned research; and
WHEREAS, to date, the National Institutes of Health has awarded substantial grants
of funding for research on marijuana and potential medicinal applications of that substance,
and has indicated that it plans to continue funding such research efforts; and
WHEREAS, in addition to the growth in government-funded research on therapeutic
marijuana, opportunities for privately-sponsored research on this subject may also become
available.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Centers at New
Orleans and Shreveport, the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and the Louisiana
State University and Southern University Agricultural Centers to pursue opportunities for
basic research, applied research, and clinical trials to evaluate the safety and clinical efficacy
of marijuana for therapeutic use.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each state agency, board, or commission which
is involved in production, dispensing, or otherwise regulating marijuana for therapeutic use
is hereby urged to collaborate in efforts to pursue research opportunities called for in this
Resolution.
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
chancellor of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at New Orleans, the
chancellor of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, the
executive director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, the vice president for
agriculture and dean of the College of Agriculture of Louisiana State University, and the
chancellor-dean of the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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