State lawmakers expressed concerns over the price of medical marijuana Friday at a Louisiana Medical Marijuana Commission meeting at the state Capitol. The commission met to discuss laws and regulations affecting the state’s medical marijuana program, but legislators took a keen interest in low enrollment and the cost for patients. The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry is the lead agency in the licensure and production of medical marijuana in Louisiana. LDAF Commissioner Mike Strain testified that a central problem to mitigating costs is that marijuana still is an illegal drug. “You may wonder why this is not covered by Medicaid, Medicare and insurance. It is because it is not a prescription product, it’s a recommendation product,” Strain said. “There’s a fine line there.” Strain said physicians cannot write prescriptions because medical marijuana has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, thus government and private insurance won’t cover the costs.
Yahoo News, 10/05/2021