2023 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 96
BY SENATOR MIZELL
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to study acute and long-term
adverse health events related to medical marijuana, hemp containing THC, and
kratom and to report its findings to the legislature prior to the convening of the 2024
Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.
WHEREAS, the therapeutic use of marijuana in this state was first authorized in law
in 1978, when Act No. 725 of the 1978 Regular Session of the legislature was enacted; and
WHEREAS, the legislature subsequently enacted Act No. 874 of the 1991 Regular
Session and Act No. 261 of the 2015 Regular Session, the Alison Neustrom Act, in efforts
to facilitate access by patients to medical marijuana; and
WHEREAS, the 2015 legislation established the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy as the
regulatory authority for the dispensing of recommended marijuana for therapeutic use for
treating conditions such as glaucoma, cancer, and spastic quadriplegia; and
WHEREAS, this legislation also established the Louisiana Department of Agriculture
and Forestry as the regulatory authority for the cultivation and production of medical
marijuana; and
WHEREAS, in 2018, the legislature enacted several laws expanding the statutorily
provided list of conditions qualifying patients for treatment with medical marijuana, adding
post-traumatic stress disorder, autism, and chronic pain as qualifying conditions; and
WHEREAS, Act No. 286 of the 2020 Regular Session dramatically expanded the
authorization for use of medical marijuana by adding to the statutory list of qualifying
conditions: Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease, Lewy
body dementia, motor neuron disease, Parkinson's disease, spinal muscular atrophy,
traumatic brain injury, concussion, chronic pain associated with fibromyalgia, chronic pain
associated with sickle cell disease, and, most significantly, any condition not otherwise
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specified in the state's medical marijuana law, R.S. 40:1046, that a physician, in his medical
opinion, considers debilitating to an individual patient and is qualified through his medical
education and training to treat; and
WHEREAS, over the past several years, the set of authorized forms of medical
marijuana in this state has also been expanded to include metered dose inhalers, oils,
extracts, tinctures, sprays, capsules, pills, solutions, suspensions, gelatin-based chewables,
lotions, transdermal patches, and suppositories; and
WHEREAS, Act No. 424 of the 2021 Regular Session repealed the prohibition on
therapeutic use of marijuana in raw or crude form and thereby permitted a smokeable form
of medical marijuana; and
WHEREAS, Act No. 438 of the 2022 Regular Session authorized dispensing of
medical marijuana to certain qualifying patients who are not Louisiana residents and Act No.
444 of the 2022 Regular Session extended the authority to recommend medical marijuana
to medical psychologists and licensed nurse practitioners who have prescriptive authority,
in addition to licensed physicians; and
WHEREAS, Act No. 491 of the 2022 Regular Session transferred duties for licensure
and regulation of medical marijuana production facilities from the Louisiana Department of
Agriculture and Forestry to the Louisiana Department of Health and repealed the ten-license
limit on marijuana pharmacy licenses by providing a process to issue additional licenses
contingent upon increases in medical marijuana patient counts; and
WHEREAS, with the significant expansion of permitted uses, access to clinician
recommendations, and methods of delivery of medical marijuana for patients, it is
imperative that state lawmakers and health officials remain aware of the adverse effects on
the health and well-being of the residents of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, thirty-seven additional states have laws authorizing the use of medical
marijuana that may have reliable outcome reports or cumulative data that the Louisiana
Department of Health can use in determining acute and long-term adverse health events
related to medical marijuana; and
WHEREAS, Act No. 164 of the 2019 Regular Session provided for the regulation
of industrial hemp and industrial hemp-derived CBD products; and
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WHEREAS, Louisiana law regulating industrial hemp was amended in the following
years by Act No. 344 of the 2020 Regular Session, Act No. 336 of the 2021 Regular Session,
which provided for consumable hemp products, and Act No. 458 of the 2022 Regular
Session; and
WHEREAS, R.S. 3:1481 defines hemp as the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part
of that plant, including the seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers,
acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a total delta-9 THC
concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis; and
WHEREAS, R.S. 3:1481 also defines THC as a combination of tetrahydrocannabinol
and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid; and
WHEREAS, both hemp and marijuana plants are the same species, with the main
difference being how much THC each contains; and
WHEREAS, kratom is a preparation made from the leaves of Mitragyna speciosa,
an evergreen tree that grows naturally in Southeast Asia, which can be used as either a
sedative or a stimulant depending upon the amount consumed; and
WHEREAS, the United States Food and Drug Administration warns consumers not
to use kratom; and
WHEREAS, there are no approved Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses for
kratom; and
WHEREAS, R.S. 40:989.3 prohibits the distribution of any product containing
kratom to a minor; and
WHEREAS, the FDA has raised concerns about the toxicity and possible death with
the use of kratom; and
WHEREAS, Act No. 231 of the 2019 Regular Session provides for Mitragynine to
be added to the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law if and when the Drug
Enforcement Administration of the United States classifies Mitragyna as a controlled
dangerous substance; and
WHEREAS, the legislature needs reliable data regarding actual adverse effects in
order to safeguard the health and well-being of Louisiana residents and properly regulate
medical marijuana, hemp containing THC, and kratom.
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THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to study acute and
long-term adverse health events related to medical marijuana, hemp containing THC, and
kratom and to report its findings to the legislature prior to the convening of the 2024 Regular
Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Louisiana Department of Health.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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