People in Louisiana looking to gain access to medical marijuana have to follow a few procedural steps to get approved and buy from a licensed dispensary. The first step in the process is recognizing whether or not you have a condition that qualifies for the use of medical marijuana.
In the state of Louisiana, there are several approved conditions for people looking to gain access to cannabis products. They include:
- Cancer
- HIV
- AIDS
- Wasting syndrome
- Cachexia
- Epilepsy
- Various other seizure disorders
- Spasticity
- Crohn’s disease
- Muscular dystrophy
- MS
- Glaucoma
- Parkinson’s disease
- Severe muscle spasms
- Intractable pain
- PTSD
- Some conditions that fall under the broad category of autism spectrum disorder
- Alzheimer’s disease
- ALS
- Huntington’s disease
- Lew body dementia
- Motor neuron disease
- Spinal muscular atrophy
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Concussions
- Fibromyalgia
- Sickle cell disease
- Any other condition that requires the use of hospice or palliative care under the recommendation of a licensed doctor
A person who qualifies under any of the aforementioned categories can apply through the state to gain access to MMJ. However, you will have to be approved by a licensed provider first. In some cases, this can be done through a Louisiana patient drive. Read on to learn all you need to know about MMJ certification and patient drives in Louisiana.
What is a Louisiana patient drive?
A patient drive is an event that can match people with certified and licensed doctors to get approved for the use of medical marijuana, while also matching newly approved MMJ patients with a dispensary in their area. Patient drives in Louisiana are designed to make the entire MMJ application process – from getting approved to gaining access to a dispensary – that much easier. While a drive is of course great for patients, it is equally helpful for local dispensaries.
Potential MMJ patients can avoid the long wait times that are sometimes involved in seeing their own medical care provider or another licensed professional for a recommendation. For dispensaries, a patient drive is especially helpful. One key reason is that advertising and marketing rules are a little tricky for those in the dispensary business. Dispensaries cannot conduct advertising in a widespread way, which means connecting with possible patients can be a lot more difficult.
How does a Louisiana patient drive work?
A patient drive in Louisiana begins with the process of approving patients. A patient who has a qualifying condition can opt for an online consultation with one of MMJRecs’ licensed medical care providers. The consultation is a quick and easy process and is done through the MMJ website. When patients are approved, they are immediately able to purchase medical marijuana products with their new certification, because all patient drive certifications are done on the same day.
The main goal is to help people who have a qualifying condition gain access to medical cannabis products without having to spend too much time waiting. The patient drive also takes the guesswork out of finding a dispensary, because everything is done with one particular dispensary in mind.
The dispensary that chooses to do a patient drive will be open to all patients who were approved during the drive. MMJRecs doctors are there to connect newly certified patients with their dispensary, and handles the flow of patients so they can be attended to in a timely manner.
How to take advantage of Louisiana patient drive events
Having a dispensary in Louisiana and not being able to advertise for yourself may be difficult, and that’s why having a patient drive can be a great way to connect new patients with your venue and your products.
If you’re interested in having a patient drive, you can contact Dustin Heil, Vice President of Sales at MMJRecs, via email at dustin@divanmed.com. He’ll provide more information about the patient drive as well as the steps you need to take to set one up so you can help more people than ever gain access to medical cannabis in Louisiana.