NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – State Rep. Mandie Landry (D-New Orleans) let out a sigh of relief as her proposed medical marijuana bill narrowly made it out of the Labor and Industrial Relations committee on Tuesday (May 23).
“Nothing makes it out of the Labor Committee here,” Landry said. “Not minimum wage, not employment protections … It’s really hard.”
The bill moved on with a 6-5 vote.
The proposed legislation protects workers with a medical marijuana card if they were fired because of a positive cannabis test, guaranteeing them access to unemployment benefits.
This comes as the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy grants its final permit for a medical marijuana dispensary to Crescent City Therapeutics in Kenner. Developers broke ground on the Airline Highway site Monday morning.
“We battled it out with like 30 other teams and we’re just really excited to win this license,” said pharmacist Thanh Nguyen.
The dispensary is expected to open for business by the end of the year.
“It took several years to get the program here off the ground, and it’s still slow,” Landry said.
Even with medical marijuana legalized in the state, the fine print of its use still is debated at the Capitol.
The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry opposes Landry’s bill