Louisiana Grow Facility Gets Approvals
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]L[/dropcap]ouisiana State University’s cannabis grow partner has finally got the green light to start supplying the university’s AgCenter with cannabis.
State regulators announced Friday that GB Sciences Louisiana, housed in Baton Rouge, passed their background checks and are approved to move into the facility and begin growing. GB Sciences will still undergo an inspection of the facility’s manufacturing area by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry with the Department of Health on March 27.
The approvals mean that the company can finally move out of its temporary facilities into the permanent facility, which can accommodate five times the production capacity. “This is a great day for patients,” said John Davis, the president of GB Sciences Louisiana. “Full-scale operations means a consistent and continuous supply of medical cannabis. We are thrilled to move into our main facilities.”
GB Sciences had two harvests out of its temporary facilities and will not be able to create the final products that will supply the nine approved cannabis dispensaries with cannabis.
LDAF took over testing cannabis after it said it could not find a company to handle the third-party testing. However, one of the applicants, Certified Cannabis, is suing the state’s agricultural department for improperly rejecting their independent testing application and taking it upon themselves.
“Since we have been restricted to the exterior pod, we have not been able to grow enough plants that would result in enough product for pharmacies,” said Ashley Mullens from the office of the Vice President for Agriculture with the LSU AgCenter. “We did not want to put product out until we had enough supply. Moving into the main facility will make this possible.”
She continued that the increase of space will allow for a “perpetual” harvest cycle, allowing for a continuous supply of cannabis for medical patients. Medical cannabis in Louisiana is only available to patients in non-smokable forms.
It is expected that medical cannabis will be available to patients by summer.
