Louisiana Senate Passes Measure to Allow Medical Marijuana for Autism
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Louisiana’s full Senate has passed a bill that would allow those with autism spectrum disorders to become legal medical marijuana patients.
The Senate passed House Bill 627 by a vote of 21 to 10. The measure has already passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 71 to 21. Given the Senate approved some minor amendments to the bill, it will need to be passed once more by the House before it can be sent to Governor John Bel Edwards for consideration.
House Bill 627 would expand Louisiana’s medical marijuana program, passed into law last year, by adding autism spectrum disorders to the list of medical conditions that qualify someone to become a medical cannabis patient.
If House Bill 627 becomes law, autism spectrum disorders would join the following qualifying conditions:
- Cancer
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following:
- Cachexia, or wasting syndrome.
- Seizure disorders, including those characteristics of epilepsy.
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Crohn’s Disease
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Severe Cerebral palsy
- Spasticity (spinal cord injury)
- Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristics of multiple sclerosis or Crohn’s disease.