Lafayette will have medical marijuana available.
The first medical marijuana health clinic in the Hub City will hold its grand opening on Monday.
Dr. Rossitter, Physician at Total Health Clinic, says, “So in order for a patient to obtain medical marijuana they must get a recommendation from a qualified physician who is certified through the state of Louisiana and have an underlying condition that meets the requirements.”
Patients of Total Health Clinic will have to go to one of only nine pharmacists in the state to actually get medical marijuana.
Dr. Rossitter, who’s board certified in Internal medicine and Nephrology, says there’s a lot of benefits associated with medical marijuana.
“Benefits really depend on what you present with your underlying diagnosis. If one is having a wasting syndrome unable to tolerate any PO food. For example, a patient with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, we can stimulate their appetite with medical marijuana,” explains Dr. Rossitter.
News Ten reports, “What’s the process of a patient who walks into this clinic?”
Sky Smith, with Total Health Clinic, says, “Well really you just need some sort of medical records from one of your doctors showing your diagnosis and then you just need a valid Louisiana state ID and then you just need a list of any medications you’re on and he can see you and refer you from there.”
There are 14 medical conditions that qualify for medical marijuana.
“Some of the 14 conditions include cancer autism epilepsy that’s seizures….just different things as long as you’ve been diagnosed with them from your family doctor and you have documentation showing that you’ve been diagnosed with one of those 14 conditions,” adds Caitlyn Pitre, with Total Health Clinic.
Dr. Rossitter adds that medical marijuana for his patients will be available around mid-November to December and it will be sold in various forms, including pills and spray.
