Hundreds line up to buy flower-based smokable medical marijuana in Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - For the first time ever, the smokable version of medical marijuana is available for patients across Louisiana.

The new law expanding the types of medical pot available in our state is now in full effect.

The folks over at Capitol Wellness Solutions on Picardy saw close to 500 people on their first day being able to sell the flower-based smokable medical marijuana.

Which a lot of their customers have been waiting a long time for.

It’s one of the 9 dispensaries across the state now able to sell raw smokable medical marijuana.

“So many patients have asked for this day, and I’m just so thankful that we could provide this medication to them,” said Randy Mire, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Capitol Wellness Solutions.

The wait was long as expected because of the high demand.

“It was a really long process, basically we just waited in line outside, checked in, got what we needed, and then waited in another waiting room, and yeah that was it,” said Grant Turner, a medical marijuana user.

“Yeah, the process was easy, it’s just a lot of people with their medical card who want flowers,” said Raymond King, a medical marijuana user.

Inside the facility, it’s just like a pharmacy, filled with technicians and pharmacists.

They dispense the preferred version of the drug, including the newly available flower form, for approved patients with certain medical conditions like cancer, seizure disorders, or PTSD.

The state’s dispensaries have been selling medical marijuana in liquids, topical applications, inhalers, and edible gummies.

So how does this process work if you qualify?

“So a patient walks in, they chose whether they want to sit with a pharmacist or not. If they want to sit with a pharmacist they go into a counseling room. We go through everything with them, to the standard use, to their diagnosis, how they could benefit from medical marijuana, and then we get them pretty quick after that. Once the pharmacist visits with them, we pass it to the back in the pharmacy and they process the labels, and we like to get the patients on their way,” said Mire.

Marijuana is grown at LSU and Southern and is regulated by the state.

Prices vary between different strains and size amounts that you order.

“I have chronic pain, I have an immune deficiency that I use them for infusion sickness once weekly, I also have migraines, I have muscle spasms,” said Angela Broussard, a medical marijuana user, and advocate.

Broussard says she became medically dependent on opioids for 13 years to treat her conditions until she started using medical marijuana in 2019.

“While everybody else just gets up and goes to work, we have these things we have to deal with every day, multiple times a day. So the medical marijuana really helps just keep it under control, where you can have a little bit of a life again somewhat,” said Broussard.

If you have been previously diagnosed with a qualifying condition or you suffer from one, you are most likely eligible for a Louisiana Medical Marijuana Card.

Once again, you just have to get a doctor to review your conditions, and recommend marijuana as part of your treatment plan.

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