Louisiana: Medical marijuana changes hinge on language for prescriptions

Changing Louisiana's policies on medical marijuana legislation this session may hinge on the difference between prescribing the drug and recommending it as a way of getting it into the patients.

Early indications emerging from a medical marijuana bill debate Tuesday (April 12) were that the Louisiana Sheriff's Association and the Louisiana District Attorneys Association are poised to oppose bills that change the word "prescription" to "recommendation." The switch is aimed at protecting doctors, who risk losing their Drug Enforcement Agency license for prescribing a Schedule I drug.

The difference in terminology dates to a 2000 federal court decision that ruled patients could receive medical marijuana on recommendations, and that doctors couldn't be punished for "recommending" as opposed to  "prescribing," according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. But the Sheriff's Association said Tuesday that the change asks law enforcement to "turn our heads" when it comes to whether...

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