Does your state (Louisiana) allow medical marijuana? If so, what are the guidelines for the prescriber?

Answer the question below. 1) Does your state (Louisiana) allow medical marijuana? If so, what are the guidelines for the prescriber? Do you feel that marijuana should be legalized, and would you prescribe it? (This is a personal stand, I think it should be legalized and yes, I would prescribe it according to the patient’s illness such as in cancer and seizure patients. This is an article I found to help complete this assignment. A Budding Challenge for Employers? Louisiana Expands Access to Medical Marijuana Monday, June 29, 2020 In 2015, Louisiana passed a law authorizing the prescription of marijuana for the treatment of certain qualifying medical conditions, such as glaucoma, cancer, and spastic quadriplegia. In 2018, the statutory list of conditions was amended to include post-traumatic stress disorder, autism, and chronic pain. In the same amendment, the legislature designated the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry to oversee the production of medical marijuana. Since then, employers with operations and employees in Louisiana have been preparing for the new reality of managing marijuana in the workplace. These preparations are set to become even more challenging for Louisiana’s employers considering new workplace realities and changes to the state’s medical marijuana law set to take effect in August 2020. The Updated Louisiana Marijuana Law On June 16, 2020, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signed into law House Bill No. 819. Effective August 1, 2020, Louisianans’ ability legally to use marijuana to treat medical conditions will be greatly expanded. The law amends and reenacts current Louisiana laws addressing the use of medical marijuana. The newly enacted measure removes certain restrictions and requirements concerning who can recommend medicinal marijuana to patients and greatly expands the conditions for which doctors can legally recommend marijuana to their patients. Significant Changes to Louisiana’s Current Marijuana Law The first significant change to the current law deals with which doctors may legally recommend marijuana to Louisiana patients. Under current law, a doctor issuing a “recommendation” providing for the dispensing of marijuana to a patient for the treatment of one of the medical conditions enumerated under the law, must be certified or authorized by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners to make such recommendations. The new law removes the certification prerequisite for doctors to recommend medical marijuana to their patients. Going forward, any doctor “licensed by and in good standing with the Louisiana Board of Medical Examiners” to practice medicine in Louisiana may recommend medical marijuana to his or her patients for the treatment of medical conditions. Another substantial change brought about by the new law is the list of medical conditions that Louisiana doctors may legally treat with marijuana. The current law provides that medical marijuana is legally available for a finite list of 16 medical conditions: cancer, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), cachexia or wasting syndrome, seizure disorders, epilepsy, spasticity, Crohn’s disease, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, Parkinson’s disease, severe muscle spasms, intractable pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, and some conditions associated with autism spectrum disorder. Once the changes take effect on August 1, 2020, the list of medical conditions legally treatable with marijuana will no longer be so finite. In addition to the 16 conditions doctors may currently treat with marijuana, the law will address “neurodegenerative diseases and conditions” including the following diseases and conditions that will qualify for treatment with marijuana: Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS, Huntington’s disease, Lewy body dementia (LBD), motor neuron disease, Parkinson’s disease, and spinal muscular atrophy. The law will also incorporate four specified medical conditions that Louisiana doctors may also legally treat with marijuana: “traumatic brain injury,” concussions, “chronic pain associated with fibromyalgia,” and “chronic pain associated with sickle cell disease.” Finally, the law sets forth two unspecified, general medical conditions that qualify for treatment with marijuana. Licensed doctors in Louisiana may recommend marijuana to their patients for the treatment of “any condition for which a patient is receiving hospice care or palliative care.” Louisiana doctors may also, in their discretion and medical opinion, recommend medical marijuana to patients for the treatment of “[a]NY condition.” While it is unclear what impact the current medical marijuana law has had on Louisiana workplaces, any impact is sure to broaden now that any medical doctor may treat “any condition” with marijuana. Key Takeaways Louisiana employers may want to take proactive steps to manage the reality of medical marijuana at work. Some of those steps include: • amending policies and job descriptions to prohibit drug addiction. • amending policies and job descriptions to prohibit impairment at work. • training supervisors to be alert to behaviors associated with marijuana intoxication, and • reviewing interview and onboarding materials for compliance with standards regarding medical inquiries. © 2020, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., All Rights Reserved. Please use this discussion as an example. This is another student’s assignment. Medical Marijuana The state I reside in is Louisiana. In June of 2015, the state of Louisiana signed the SB 143 law for medical marijuana for debilitating medical conditions. The conditions that the state considers debilitating are autism, cachexia/wasting syndrome, cancer, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, intractable pain, multiple sclerosis (MS), muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe muscles spasms, and spasticity (The Louisiana state board of medical examiners, 2019). In May of 2016, the governor signed a bill that allowed doctors to “recommend” rather than "prescribe" medical marijuana to patients (The Louisiana state board of medical examiners, 2019). In August of 2019, medical marijuana officially became available to patients in Louisiana. The agriculture centers of Southern University and Louisiana State University are the only two centers allowed to grow medical marijuana for the state. Which is regulated by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) (Louisiana marijuana laws, n.d.). Louisiana only allows nine pharmacies to dispense medical marijuana. Medical marijuana can only be dispensed in pills, liquids, oils, topical applications, or cannabis inhalers (Louisiana marijuana laws, n.d.). Louisiana guidelines for prescribing medical marijuana include: • The physician must be registered by the Louisiana Medical Board. • The physician must be compliant with the Louisiana Medical Board rules and regulations. • The physician must have an established relationship with the patient. • The physician must obtain informed consent. • The patient must have a debilitating medical condition. • The physician must review the prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) before recommending therapy. • The physician is prohibited from examining patients in the same location as the dispensing site. • The physician must keep the patient's records accurate and up to date. • The physician must not have any financial gain or interest in medical marijuana (The Louisiana state board of medical examiners, 2019). I believe that medical marijuana would be beneficial to those with debilitating medical conditions. According to Kabir (n.d.), medical marijuana has shown to decrease pain, help with nausea caused by chemotherapy, slow/stop cancer cells from spreading, treat glaucoma, and so much more. As a provider, I would recommend the use of medical marijuana for patients with debilitating medical conditions but unfortunately, the state of Louisiana does not allow Nurse Practitioners to prescribe medical marijuana.

ANSWER. PAPER DETAILS
Academic Level	Masters
Subject Area	Nursing
Paper Type	Coursework
Number of Pages	1 Page(s)/275 words
Sources	2
Format	APA 6
Spacing	Double Spacing

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