Y'all Can Plant Your Cannabis Crop Now

Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain, whose agency regulates the cannabis industry in his state, has loosened a regulatory logjam that had created a months-long delay in planting the state's first crop, intended for medicinal uses, the Miami Herald reported yesterday.

The Herald article quoted the Monroe News-Star's report that Strain's team had met with LSU AgCenter Chancellor Bill Richardson and the head of LSU's cannabis contractor GB Sciences Wednesday to clear the path for production.

Strain expected to give GB Sciences a "temporary go-ahead" after a final inspection Thursday. That meant the crop could be planted in a temporary portion of the growing facility as early as Friday.

(GB Sciences President John Davis confirmed that the company expects to plant a crop today.)

Since cannabis plants take about three months to mature, the first product isn't expected to be available to patients until November, months later than originally projected.

That’s bad news for patients who had to suffer needlessly for months longer than expected, but good news in the long run for those in need of cannabis’ profound medicinal benefits.

Louisiana is one of 30 states that allow medicinal cannabis.