One of the state’s first marijuana pharmacies is looking to open in Metairie nearly two years after Louisiana lawmakers authorized the use of medical marijuana for certain conditions.
The Rx Greenhouse last month got preliminary approval from the state Pharmacy Board and plans to be operational by Sept. 1, according to CEO Dr. Sajal Roy, who is also a pharmacist.
The Rx Greenhouse was chosen from among eight applicants for the pharmacy permit to dispense marijuana in the metro New Orleans area. The Pharmacy Board plans to issue permits for pharmacies in each of the state’s nine designated health care regions.
Roy said he is “confident” state lawmakers and the Pharmacy Board will give the location final approval.
“We’re just excited to get started,” he said.
The Rx Greenhouse also operates a marijuana dispensary in Maryland, which Roy said was one of the first to open in that state.
“So, this isn’t our first rodeo. We get it,” Roy said. “We know how to work with the providers in the area. We know how to make sure patients understand the medication they are getting, how to use it and also how to help doctors document their clinical results so that they can get that information out to other patients.”
Watch Dr. Danielle Neupauer, compliance officer for Rx Greenhouse, describe plans for the facility. The video below was originally broadcast live on Facebook.
The Louisiana pharmacies will dispense marijuana that will be produced and manufactured in various forms by vendors hired by Southern University and Louisiana State University, the only agricultural centers allowed by state law to grow the medicinal-grade marijuana.
Those vendors are responsible for growing the marijuana as well as processing it, Roy said. Louisiana’s law does not permit the sale of marijuana that can be smoked, or so-called “combustible” marijuana. The forms sold at the Rx Greenhouse and other state-permitted pharmacies will include pills, topical creams and oils.
“By using different solvents, they are able to process the marijuana into these tablets, capsules, patches, lotions, oils and that’s your finished product,” he said.
The medical conditions that marijuana has been approved as a treatment for in Louisiana include:
- Cancer
- AIDS
- HIV
- Muscular dystrophy
- Multiple sclerosis
- Cachexia/wasting syndrome
- Epilepsy
- Crohn’s disease
The marijuana can only be dispensed to patients with a doctor’s recommendation form, which will be verified, Roy said. The certification for marijuana is good for 30 days and requires the patient to return to the doctor for evaluation, he said.
“If the physician feels that it’s working, the patient will get another certification for another month,” Roy said.
“Every piece of marijuana will be accounted for from seed to sale,” Roy said.
Watch the video below to see plans for the new facility.