Livingston Parish Cannabis – Is It Legal & Where To Buy 2025

Is Cannabis Cultivation Legal in Livingston Parish?

Cannabis cultivation in Livingston Parish is legal only if licensed and for medical use according to the State of Louisiana’s Alison Neustrom Act or Act 261 which was passed in 2015, creating the Medical Marijuana Program. Later, in 2022, Act 491, Act 492, and Act 628 updated the same law. On August 1, 2022, the regulation and licensing of medical cannabis use and medical cannabis businesses were transferred to the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) from the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF).

Louisiana Administrative Code (LAC) 51:XXIX:101-907 authorized the granting of only two licenses statewide, with each license covering both medical cannabis cultivation and licensing. These were issued to the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and the Southern University Agricultural Center. Both universities are required to renew their respective licenses on July 1 every year.

Each university is allowed to appoint one permittee to do the medical cannabis cultivation and medical cannabis product manufacturing for them. The appointee is still required to apply for a permit from the LDH. There is an annual permit fee of $100,000 to be paid yearly.

The permittees are required to cultivate medical cannabis only indoors within a completely enclosed and locked facility that the public cannot see into. They must ensure that odors do not emanate from the facility. A professional security system with recorded video surveillance and alarms must be put in place to prevent trespassing and theft, limiting entry only to authorized staff. Official guests must be logged in and out of the facility and must be escorted in areas containing medical cannabis or medical cannabis products. The facility must have an inventory system linked with the Louisiana Medical Marijuana Tracking System (LMMTS).

Is Cannabis Manufacturing Legal in Livingston Parish?

Cannabis product manufacturing in Livingston Parish is legal only when licensed and for medical cannabis products under the State of Louisiana’s Act 261 updated by Act 491, Act 492, and Act 628. Only the respective appointees of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and the Southern University Agricultural Center are allowed to manufacture medical cannabis products in the state once they have acquired their permits from the LDH.

The permittees are required by LAC 51:XXIX:101-907 to observe the same operational requirements for medical cannabis product manufacturing as those for medical cannabis cultivation.

The medical cannabis manufacturing permittee must take a random sample from each batch of medical cannabis products it manufactures prior to portioning or packaging. The sample must be sent to an LDH-approved testing laboratory. Until test results have been submitted by the laboratory to the LDH through a certificate of analysis showing no issues, the permittee may not sell the batch under scrutiny. If the sample from a batch fails the test, the permittee is given one chance to address the issue for the entire batch and resubmit a random sample. If the second sample fails, the permittee must destroy the whole batch of medical cannabis products.

According to LAC 7:XLIX:2903, the LDH must first approve the packaging to be used on any medical cannabis item and medical cannabis product. Packages must be tamper-proof, child-proof, and resistant to light. A package must be resealable if it contains several doses or servings, and must still be child-proof upon resealing. No packages and labels for medical cannabis and medical cannabis products must look attractive to children. They are not allowed to look like other commercially available candies, snacks, baked items, or beverages. The permittees may not use images on packages that may be misconstrued as an endorsement from the state, parish, or municipality.

Is Cannabis Retail Legal in Livingston Parish?

Cannabis retail in Livingston Parish is legal only for medical cannabis and medical cannabis products sold by licensed retailers to certified patients or their caregivers as stipulated by Act 261 of the State of Louisiana and its updates in Act 491, Act 492, and Act 628. Louisiana Revised Statute (RS) 40: 1046.1, however, added that licensed retailers are also allowed to sell medical cannabis and medical cannabis products to people visiting the State of Louisiana who are holders of valid medical cannabis cards issued by other states.

A licensed medical cannabis retailer in the State of Louisiana is one who has acquired a therapeutic marijuana pharmacy permit from the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy. On September 4, 2022, the window for applications for the permit closed. As of June 2023, 10 therapeutic marijuana pharmacy permits had been granted, none of them located in Livingston Parish.

In each region of the State of Louisiana, the therapeutic marijuana pharmacy permit holder is allowed to operate a satellite location once the Prescription Monitoring Program shows that the active qualified patients in that region number at least 3,500. The yearly count will be made every August 1st or shortly thereafter. However, licensed therapeutic marijuana pharmacy sites throughout the state shall not exceed 30.

In regions with parishes of populations less than 350,000, licensed therapeutic marijuana pharmacies must stay at least 15 miles away from each other. If the region has a parish with over 350,000 people, licensed therapeutic marijuana pharmacies can be 10 miles away from each other. If the region has a municipality with over 350,000 people, licensed therapeutic marijuana pharmacies can be as close as five miles away from each other.

Act 424 of the State of Louisiana allows licensed therapeutic marijuana pharmacies to sell to a certified patient or the patient’s caregiver only up to 71 grams or 2.5 ounces of raw cannabis or its equivalent every 14 days. Raw cannabis can only be sold to certified patients below 21 years old, though, if their physician’s certification allows them to take medical cannabis in such form.

LAC Title 46 Part LIII states that licensed therapeutic marijuana pharmacies are allowed to sell to certified patients or their caregivers the following forms of medical cannabis and medical cannabis products they purchase from medical cannabis cultivation and manufacturing permittees:

• Raw cannabis products, such as dried flowers and plant materials
• Oils
• Tinctures
• Extracts
• Sprays
• Pills and capsules
• Suppositories
• Suspensions
• Solutions
• Infused gelatin or pectin chewable products
• Edible products
• Pre-rolls
• Metered-dose inhalers
• Transdermal patches
• Lotions and other topical products

The 2021 Annual Report of the Medical Marijuana Program showed that in that year, licensed therapeutic marijuana pharmacies also sold the following medical cannabis products:

• Concentrates
• Syringes

Is Cannabis Delivery Legal in Livingston Parish?

Act 491 of the State of Louisiana requires licensed therapeutic marijuana pharmacies to offer delivery services of medical cannabis and medical cannabis products to certified patients living within their regions no less than once a month.

Medical cannabis permittees are also allowed by the same Act to deliver medical cannabis and medical cannabis products to other medical cannabis permittees, LDH-approved testing laboratories, and licensed therapeutic marijuana pharmacies, provided each delivery is accompanied by an LMMTS manifest.

How to Get a Medical Marijuana Card in Livingston Parish

Medical cannabis cards are not issued in the State of Louisiana. RS 40:1046 only requires residents of Livingston Parish to acquire from an authorized clinician a medical cannabis certification attesting that the patient is suffering from one of the following debilitating ailments:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Lewy body dementia
• HIV
• Chronic pain from fibromyalgia
• AIDS
• Cancer
• Spinal muscular atrophy
• Traumatic brain injury
• Seizure disorders
• Glaucoma
• Epilepsy
• Chronic pain from sickle cell disease
• Cachexia
• Alzheimer's disease
• Motor neuron disease
• Diagnosed concussion
• Severe muscle spasms
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Huntington's disease
• Muscular dystrophy
• Multiple sclerosis
• Parkinson's disease
• Spasticity or Intractable pain
• Crohn's disease
• Autism spectrum disorder with any of the following behaviors:
• Severe lack of communication or avoidance of people, placing the patient at risk
• Physically aggressive or destructive behavior
• Severe stimulating or repetitive behavior endangering the patient
• Behavior that causes self-injury
• A medical condition that needs palliative or hospice care
• Any other medical condition deemed debilitating in the clinical opinion of the authorized clinician, based on education and training.

An authorized clinician may be a licensed physician or medical psychologist deemed in good standing by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners or a licensed nurse practitioner deemed in good standing by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing.

The public may contact the State of Louisiana’s Medical Marijuana Program at the following address:

628 N. 4th Street

Baton Rouge, LA 70802

Phone: 225-342-7533

How Has Cannabis Legalization Impacted the Economy of Livingston Parish?

Act 492 of the State of Louisiana mandated that the Louisiana Department of Revenue (LDR) collect from each medical cannabis permittee a monthly fee corresponding to 7% of their gross sales to licensed medical cannabis pharmacies. These cover medical cannabis and medical cannabis products. The funds are used for the Medical Marijuana Program’s administrative, regulatory, investigative, legal, and enforcement expenses.

According to the Medical Marijuana Program’s 2021 Annual Report, $208,919.90 was collected for the year from medical cannabis cultivation and manufacturing permittee and pharmacy fees, background check fees, and employee permit fees. Even if the State General Fund (SGF) contributed another $523,700, the total of $732,619.90 was not enough to cover the program’s expenses of $752,040.19.

The Effects of Cannabis Legalization on Crime Rates in Livingston Parish

Medical cannabis was legalized in Livingston Parish in 2015.

Data sent by the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office to the Crime Explorer page of the FBI shows that in 2014, a year before the legalization of medical cannabis, there were 207 marijuana possession arrests and 33 marijuana sales arrests, totaling 240 marijuana offense arrests.

In 2016, a year after the legalization of medical cannabis, there were 195 marijuana possession arrests and 49 marijuana sales arrests, totaling 244 marijuana offense arrests.

In 2019, there were 286 marijuana possession arrests and six marijuana sales arrests, totaling 292 marijuana offense arrests.

In 2021, the latest available data shows 63 marijuana possession arrests and 11 marijuana sales arrests, totaling 74 marijuana offense arrests.

In those years, the number of DUI arrests was as follows:

• 2014: 98 arrests
• 2016: 78 arrests
• 2019: 129 arrests
• 2021: 69 arrests