Data as of 2025-06-30

Louisiana

Louisiana operates a medical-only Therapeutic Marijuana program under La. R.S. 40:1046 and has no adult-use law. The modern licensing framework was created by Act 261 of 2015, and the first patient sales began in approximately August 2019. The program is built on hard statutory caps: no more than two production licenses and no more than ten retail permits. Both production licenses are operational, and nine of the ten retail permits are operating as base pharmacies. The two production licenses are assigned by statute, through a right of first refusal, to the Louisiana State University AgCenter and the Southern University AgCenter. Cultivation and retail are statutorily separate tiers, so no entity may integrate from grow to retail. Therapeutic cannabis carries a 7 percent fee on gross sales and is exempt from state and local sales and use tax. The therapeutic marijuana fee rose every fiscal year on record, from $76,794 in fiscal year 2020 to $6,362,786 in fiscal year 2025. Derived from that fee at the statutory 7 percent rate, therapeutic cannabis sales were roughly $90.9 million in fiscal year 2025, which works out to $19.77 in sales per resident. Year-over-year growth in the fee, and therefore in derived sales, was 76.6 percent. Smokable flower became a legal form on January 1, 2022; food-form edibles such as gummies are not an authorized delivery form.

Market

Licensing & Market

Louisiana imposes hard statutory caps on both license tiers. La. R.S. 40:1046 authorizes no more than two production licenses and no more than ten retail permits. Both production licenses are operational, an activation rate of 100 percent, and nine of the ten retail permits operate as base pharmacies, a rate of 90 percent; the nine-pharmacy count rests on secondary reporting rather than a current state roster. The two production licenses are assigned by statute, through a right of first refusal, to the Louisiana State University AgCenter and the Southern University AgCenter, and are operated commercially by Good Day Farm Louisiana and Ilera Holistic Healthcare. There are 0.44 operating cultivators per million residents and 0.20 operating base pharmacies per 100,000 residents; each retail permit may add up to two satellite locations, so the physical pharmacy count is higher than the base-permit count. Vertical integration is prohibited: production and retail are separate license types held by different entities, and no single entity may integrate from cultivation to dispensing. Retail permits are transferable by membership interest without department approval. There is no ownership-residency requirement; the only residency rule is operational, requiring each pharmacy to employ a Louisiana-resident licensed pharmacist. Louisiana does not use municipal opt-in. Retail permits are allocated across the state's administrative regions, built on its 64 parishes, with at least one permit per region. The production application fee is $10,000 and the annual production license fee is $100,000; the annual retail permit fee is $22,500. The state tracks product through Metrc.

Field Value Source
Cultivator licenses awarded 2 [5]
Cultivator licenses operational 2 [6]
Cultivator activation rate 100% [7]
Operating cultivators per million 0.44 [8]
Retail licenses awarded 10 [9]
Retail licenses operational 9 [10]
Retail activation rate 90% [11]
Dispensaries per 100k 0.2 [12]
Vertical integration prohibited [13]
License caps exist Yes [14]
Licenses transferable Yes [15]
Residency required No [16]
Residency duration (months) Not available in the public record —
Municipalities allowing Not available in the public record —
Municipalities total 64 [17]
Municipal opt-in rate Not available in the public record —
Track-and-trace system Metrc [18]
Cultivator application fee $10,000 [19]
Cultivator annual fee $100,000 [20]
Retail application fee Not available in the public record —
Retail annual fee $22,500 [21]
Consumers

Consumer Rules

Louisiana has no adult-use possession allowance; access is limited to registered patients. Home cultivation is not permitted for anyone, including patients, and growing is treated as production of a controlled substance under La. R.S. 40:966. Patients are limited to 2.5 ounces (71 grams) of flower per 14-day period; the state publishes no fixed gram cap for concentrates or milligram cap for edibles. Not all product forms are legal: smokable flower became a legal form on January 1, 2022 under Act 424 of 2021, and tinctures, oils, capsules, topicals, transdermal patches, suppositories, and metered-dose inhalers are permitted, while food-form edibles such as gummies and baked goods are not among the authorized delivery forms. Delivery by licensed pharmacies is legal and operational. Consumption lounges are not authorized.

Field Value Source
Home grow allowed No [22]
Home grow plant limit Not available in the public record —
Possession limit (oz) Not available in the public record —
Delivery legal Yes [23]
Delivery operational Yes [24]
Consumption lounges legal No [25]
Consumption lounges count 0 [26]
Purchase limit, flower (oz) 2.5 [27]
Purchase limit, concentrate (g) Not available in the public record —
Purchase limit, edibles (mg) Not available in the public record —
All product forms legal No [28]
Restricted product forms Food-form edibles (e.g., gummies, baked goods) are not among the delivery forms authorized by La. R.S. 40:1046. Permitted forms include raw/crude smokable flower (legalized by Act 424 of 2021, effective Jan 1, 2022), tinctures, oils, capsules/pills, topicals, transdermal patches, suppositories, and metered-dose inhalers. [29]
Taxes

Taxation

Therapeutic cannabis carries a single state levy: a 7 percent fee on gross sales, paid by the licensee under La. R.S. 40:1046. Medical cannabis is exempt from state and local sales and use tax under La. R.S. 47:305.2, so no sales tax and no local cannabis tax apply, leaving a total consumer-facing rate of 7 percent. The 7 percent rate has been unchanged since the program's commercial launch. The therapeutic marijuana fee generated $6,362,786 in fiscal year 2025 on a net-collections basis, which works out to $1.38 per resident. Revenue has grown with sales volume while the rate has stayed fixed.

Field Value Source
Excise tax 7% [30]
Excise tax type per price [31]
Sales tax 0% [32]
Wholesale tax Not available in the public record —
Potency tax exists No [33]
Potency tax, flower Not available in the public record —
Potency tax, concentrate Not available in the public record —
Potency tax, edibles Not available in the public record —
Local tax (max) 0% [34]
Local tax (typical) 0% [35]
Total effective rate 7% [36]
Medical tax exempt No [37]
Medical tax rate 7% [38]
Annual tax revenue $6,362,786 [39]
Tax revenue per capita $1.38 [40]
Tax changed since legalization No [41]
Tax direction unchanged [42]
Operators

Operator Data

Therapeutic cannabis sales were roughly $90.9 million in fiscal year 2025. That figure is derived from the 7 percent therapeutic marijuana fee at its statutory rate, the fee being levied on gross sales, and is corroborated by secondary reporting of an estimated $90.9 million for the year ending June 30, 2025; Louisiana publishes no direct sales total. Sales per resident were $19.77. Growth in the fee, and therefore in derived sales, was 76.6 percent year over year. The market has operated continuously with two production licensees, with no production license surrendered or revoked. Louisiana publishes no public wholesale or retail price series for cannabis, so wholesale price trends, retail prices, and operator margins cannot be quantified from public records; with only two licensed growers, any such figures would come from non-public point-of-sale data not used here.

Field Value Source
Wholesale flower ($/lb) Not available in the public record —
Wholesale flower period Not available in the public record —
Wholesale trend Not available in the public record —
Wholesale price compression Not available in the public record —
Retail flower ($/oz) Not available in the public record —
Operator margin Not available in the public record —
Total market sales $90,896,943 [43]
Adult-use sales Not available in the public record —
Per-capita sales $19.77 [44]
YoY sales growth 76.6% [45]
License attrition (count) 0 [46]
License attrition 0% [47]
Peak cultivation licenses 2 [48]
Current cultivation licenses 2 [49]
Outcomes

Consumer Data

Louisiana residents purchased $19.77 of therapeutic cannabis per resident in fiscal year 2025, served by 0.20 operating base pharmacies per 100,000 residents. The state publishes no retail price series, so price trends cannot be stated from public sources. No published Louisiana, federal, or academic estimate of legal-market capture — the share of total consumption met by the licensed medical channel — was located, so the degree to which the licensed program has displaced the unregulated market cannot be stated from public sources.

Field Value Source
Per-capita sales $19.77 [44]
Dispensaries per 100k 0.2 [12]
Legal market capture Not available in the public record —
Legal capture source Not available in the public record —
Retail price trend Not available in the public record —
Equity

Equity Programs

Louisiana has no social-equity licensing program of the adult-use type and no dedicated cannabis equity fund. The two production licenses are assigned by statute, through a right of first refusal, to the Louisiana State University AgCenter and the Southern University AgCenter; the Southern University AgCenter is a historically Black institution, and its license is operated commercially by Ilera Holistic Healthcare. The state publishes no licensee minority-ownership or women-ownership breakdown. Expungement of a first-offense misdemeanor cannabis possession record is available but petition-based under La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 977, requiring the person to file a motion; it is not automatic. Louisiana does not publish a count of cannabis records expunged.

Field Value Source
Equity program exists No [50]
Equity program type Not available in the public record —
Equity licenses awarded Not available in the public record —
Equity licenses operational Not available in the public record —
Equity activation rate Not available in the public record —
Equity fund exists No [51]
Equity fund size Not available in the public record —
Equity fund disbursed Not available in the public record —
Equity fund disbursement rate Not available in the public record —
Minority ownership Not available in the public record —
Women ownership Not available in the public record —
Community reinvestment Not available in the public record —
Expungement exists Yes [52]
Expungement automatic No [53]
Expungements processed Not available in the public record —
Income cap for equity Not available in the public record —
Enforcement

Enforcement

Louisiana tracks regulated product through Metrc. State rule sets a minimum inspection cadence — production facilities at least twice per fiscal year and retailers at least annually — and mandates six categories of product testing: potency, pesticides, residual solvents, foreign matter including heavy metals, microbials, and mycotoxins. Beyond these, the state does not publish the operational metrics of enforcement: inspections actually conducted, enforcement actions against licensees, actions against unlicensed operators, regulatory budget and staffing, per-batch testing cost, product recalls, and the dollar values of the fine schedule are not available in the public record. This section is therefore largely NOT_AVAILABLE — not because enforcement does not occur, but because the regulator does not report these figures in a form that can be sourced for a public reference. Regulatory authority for the program moved to the Louisiana Department of Health, with retailer oversight transferring from the Board of Pharmacy effective January 1, 2025.

Field Value Source
Track-and-trace system Metrc [18]
Inspections per year Not available in the public record —
Enforcement actions (licensees) Not available in the public record —
Unlicensed-market enforcement actions Not available in the public record —
Regulatory budget Not available in the public record —
Regulatory staff Not available in the public record —
Mandatory testing analytes 6 [54]
Testing cost per batch Not available in the public record —
Product recalls per year Not available in the public record —
Fine schedule (min) Not available in the public record —
Fine schedule (max) Not available in the public record —
Criminal Law

Penalties & Criminal Law

Louisiana decriminalized possession of 14 grams or less of cannabis through HB 652 / Act 247 of 2021, effective August 1, 2021, making it a flat fine of up to $100 with no jail on first and every subsequent offense. Possession above 14 grams remains criminal under La. R.S. 40:966(C), escalating from a misdemeanor on the first and second conviction — up to six months in parish jail and a fine up to $500 or $1,000 — to a felony on the third conviction, carrying up to two years and a fine up to $2,500, and up to eight years on the fourth and subsequent. Unlicensed production and sale are charged under La. R.S. 40:966(A): for a quantity under 2.5 pounds, one to ten years with or without hard labor and a fine up to $50,000; for 2.5 pounds or more, one to twenty years at hard labor and a fine up to $50,000. No core cannabis possession penalty has been increased since the 2015 medical program and the 2021 reforms; the net direction is lighter, with Act 424 of 2021 also legalizing raw and smokable medical flower effective January 1, 2022. Louisiana sets no per se THC blood limit for impaired driving, relying instead on an actual-impairment standard. Eligible cannabis records may be expunged on petition. A 3.4-to-1 Black-to-white disparity in cannabis possession arrests was reported by the American Civil Liberties Union from 2010 to 2018 data; a current, cannabis-specific state arrest count is not available in the public record.

Field Value Source
Max penalty, unlicensed cultivation Production/manufacture of marijuana (Schedule I) under La. R.S. 40:966(A): imprisonment with or without hard labor for 1 to 10 years and a fine up to $50,000 (quantity under 2.5 lbs); 2.5 lbs or more is punishable at hard labor for 1 to 20 years and a fine up to $50,000. No home-cultivation exemption exists for medical patients; growing is treated as 'production.' [55]
Max penalty, unlicensed sale Distribution/sale of marijuana under La. R.S. 40:966(A): imprisonment with or without hard labor for 1 to 10 years and a fine up to $50,000 (quantity under 2.5 lbs); 2.5 lbs or more is punishable at hard labor for 1 to 20 years and a fine up to $50,000. Higher statutory weight tiers carry larger mandatory minimums. [56]
Felony threshold (grams) 14 [57]
Felony threshold type possession [58]
Penalty, possession over limit Possession of more than 14 grams, La. R.S. 40:966(C): 1st conviction up to $500 fine and/or up to 6 months parish jail (misdemeanor); 2nd conviction up to $1,000 and/or up to 6 months; 3rd conviction up to 2 years with or without hard labor (felony) and up to $2,500; 4th and subsequent up to 8 years with or without hard labor and up to $5,000. [59]
Penalty, public consumption Not available in the public record —
DUI per se limit (ng) Not available in the public record —
DUI zero tolerance No [60]
Penalties increased post-legalization No [61]
Penalty direction lighter [62]
Penalty direction details Direction has been toward leniency: 2015 (Act 261) built out the Therapeutic Marijuana program; 2021 HB 652 / Act 247 decriminalized possession of 14 grams or less to a flat fine of up to $100 with no jail (effective Aug 1, 2021); 2021 Act 424 legalized raw/smokable medical flower (effective Jan 1, 2022); petition-based expungement relief exists. No statute identified that increased core cannabis possession penalties post-reform. [63]
Post-legalization arrests (annual) Not available in the public record —
Racial disparity ratio 3.4 [64]
Expungement exists Yes [52]
Expungement automatic No [53]

Sources

  1. ↑ Louisiana Department of Health, Medical Marijuana program https://ldh.la.gov/page/medical-marijuana
  2. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau / USPS standard abbreviation for Louisiana https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/LA/PST045224
  3. ↑ Most recent published primary data point is the Louisiana Department of Revenue 2024-2025 Annual Tax Collection Report, covering the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 https://dam.ldr.la.gov/publications/LDR-Annual-Report-2024-2025-WEB.pdf
  4. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimate for Louisiana = 4,597,740 (July 1, 2024) https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/LA/PST045224
  5. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(H)(1)(a) — the Louisiana Department of Health shall issue no more than two licenses to cultivate, extract, process, produce, and transport therapeutic marijuana https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  6. ↑ Louisiana Department of Health Cannabis Program 2024 Annual Legislative Report (Act 150) — both production licensees operating in 2024: Advanced Biomedics LLC (d/b/a Ilera Holistic Healthcare) and Good Day Farm Louisiana LLC, each reporting production https://ldh.la.gov/assets/OPH/Legislative/Act-150-Report-Medical-Marijuana-Licensee-Report-5.6.25.pdf
  7. ↑ CALC: 2 operational / 2 awarded x 100 = 100.0.
  8. ↑ CALC: 2 operational / (4,597,740 / 1,000,000) = 0.44.
  9. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(G)(1)(a) — the department shall limit the number of retail permits granted in the state to no more than ten https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  10. ↑ [SECONDARY] Louisiana Illuminator reporting that nine marijuana pharmacies are operating statewide, with seven approved to add a satellite location, under the regional pharmacy framework https://lailluminator.com/2024/05/01/medical-marijuana-pharmacies/
  11. ↑ CALC: 9 operational base permits / 10 authorized x 100 = 90.0.
  12. ↑ CALC: 9 operational base pharmacies / (4,597,740 / 100,000) = 0.20.
  13. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(G) and (H) structurally separate the two production licensees from the up-to-ten retail permit holders; producers cannot dispense and pharmacies cannot cultivate, so cross-tier integration is forbidden https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  14. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046 imposes hard statutory caps: max 2 production licenses (H)(1)(a) and max 10 retail permits (G)(1)(a) https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  15. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(G) — the transfer of a membership interest in an entity that holds a marijuana retail permit may be conducted without approval of the department https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  16. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046 imposes no ownership-residency requirement; it requires only that each retail permit holder appoint a Louisiana-licensed pharmacist residing in the state to operate the site (a staffing condition, not an ownership rule) https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  17. ↑ Louisiana has 64 parishes (county-equivalents), the geographic units relevant to this regionally allocated program https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/LA/PST045224
  18. ↑ Metrc LLC powers the Louisiana Medical Marijuana Tracking System (LMMTS) administered by the Louisiana Department of Health https://www.metrc.com/partner/louisiana/
  19. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(H) — the department shall collect a nonrefundable application fee of ten thousand dollars from a production licensee https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  20. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(H) — annual license fee of one hundred thousand dollars from each licensee permitted to cultivate, extract, process, produce, and transport therapeutic marijuana; payment of $100,000 also confirmed in the Louisiana Department of Health 2024 Annual Legislative Report https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  21. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(G)(1) — the department shall charge an annual retail permit fee of twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars to each of the ten retail permit holders https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  22. ↑ Home cultivation is illegal for all Louisianans, including registered patients; growing is treated as production/manufacture of a Schedule I substance under La. R.S. 40:966(A), and the medical exemption covers possession of forms obtained from a licensed pharmacy, not cultivation https://legis.la.gov/Legis/law.aspx?d=98880
  23. ↑ [SECONDARY] Louisiana Administrative Code Title 46, Part LIII (Pharmacy) authorizes a licensed marijuana pharmacy to deliver to a patient's or caregiver's location, as compiled by LouisianaStateCannabis.org https://louisianastatecannabis.org/delivery
  24. ↑ [SECONDARY] LouisianaStateCannabis.org delivery overview — licensed marijuana pharmacies deliver to eligible patients and caregivers within their assigned regions https://louisianastatecannabis.org/delivery
  25. ↑ Louisiana's medical-only program authorizes no on-site consumption venues; no statute or rule permits cannabis consumption lounges https://ldh.la.gov/page/medical-marijuana
  26. ↑ No consumption lounges are authorized or operating in Louisiana's medical-only program https://ldh.la.gov/page/medical-marijuana
  27. ↑ Louisiana Department of Health — patients are restricted to 71 grams (2.5 ounces) of marijuana flower per 14-day period https://ldh.la.gov/page/medical-marijuana
  28. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046 enumerates the permissible delivery forms of therapeutic marijuana; food-form edibles such as gummies are not among them, so not all product forms are legal https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  29. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046 (permissible forms) and Act 424 of 2021 (raw/smokable flower, effective Jan 1, 2022) https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  30. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(H)(4) — a fee of seven percent of the gross sales of therapeutic marijuana, reported and paid by the licensee and collected by the Department of Revenue https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  31. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(H)(4) — the fee is seven percent of gross sales (price-based / ad valorem), not weight or potency https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  32. ↑ La. R.S. 47:305.2 exempts the sale of marijuana recommended for therapeutic use by qualified patients (as defined in R.S. 40:1046) from state and local sales and use tax, so the applied sales-tax rate is 0% https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=101459
  33. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(H)(4) — Louisiana taxes therapeutic marijuana at a flat 7% of gross sales with no potency or weight tiers https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  34. ↑ Therapeutic marijuana is exempt from local sales and use tax under La. R.S. 47:305.2, so no local cannabis sales tax applies https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=101459
  35. ↑ Therapeutic marijuana is exempt from local sales and use tax under La. R.S. 47:305.2; the typical applied local rate is 0% https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=101459
  36. ↑ CALC: the only levy on therapeutic marijuana is the 7% gross-sales fee (La. R.S. 40:1046(H)(4)); medical cannabis is otherwise sales-tax exempt (La. R.S. 47:305.2), so the total consumer-facing rate is 7% https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  37. ↑ Not fully exempt: therapeutic marijuana is sales/use-tax exempt (La. R.S. 47:305.2) but remains subject to the 7% therapeutic marijuana fee (La. R.S. 40:1046(H)(4)) https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  38. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(H)(4) — the 7% therapeutic marijuana fee on gross sales is the effective rate borne by the medical channel https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  39. ↑ Louisiana Department of Revenue 2024-2025 Annual Tax Collection Report — Therapeutic Marijuana Fee, fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 = $6,362,786 (net collections after accrual adjustments; cash basis $6,169,898) https://dam.ldr.la.gov/publications/LDR-Annual-Report-2024-2025-WEB.pdf
  40. ↑ CALC: $6,362,786 FY2025 therapeutic marijuana fee / 4,597,740 population = $1.38.
  41. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(H)(4) — the 7% gross-sales fee rate has been the statutory levy since the program's commercial launch and has not changed https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  42. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(H)(4) — the 7% rate is unchanged since program inception; revenue has grown with sales volume but the rate is unchanged https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  43. ↑ Derived from primary tax data: Louisiana Department of Revenue FY2025 Therapeutic Marijuana Fee $6,362,786 (net collections) divided by the 7% statutory gross-sales rate (La. R.S. 40:1046(H)(4)) = $90,896,943; corroborated by [SECONDARY] nola.com reporting an estimated $90.9M of therapeutic marijuana sold for the year ending June 30, 2025 https://dam.ldr.la.gov/publications/LDR-Annual-Report-2024-2025-WEB.pdf
  44. ↑ CALC: $90,896,943 derived FY2025 therapeutic marijuana sales / 4,597,740 population = $19.77.
  45. ↑ CALC: FY2025 fee $6,362,786 vs FY2024 fee $3,602,620 (net collections), an identical growth rate to derived sales = +76.6% https://dam.ldr.la.gov/publications/LDR-Annual-Report-2024-2025-WEB.pdf
  46. ↑ Louisiana has operated continuously with two production licensees; none has been surrendered or revoked (a mid-2024 transfer from the Southern University AgCenter contract to the operator directly was not a net loss). Louisiana Department of Health 2024 Annual Legislative Report https://ldh.la.gov/assets/OPH/Legislative/Act-150-Report-Medical-Marijuana-Licensee-Report-5.6.25.pdf
  47. ↑ CALC: 0 production licenses lost / peak 2 = 0%.
  48. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046(H)(1)(a) caps production licenses at two, the highest number ever active; confirmed by the Louisiana Department of Health 2024 Annual Legislative Report https://ldh.la.gov/assets/OPH/Legislative/Act-150-Report-Medical-Marijuana-Licensee-Report-5.6.25.pdf
  49. ↑ Louisiana Department of Health 2024 Annual Legislative Report — two active production licensees (Ilera Holistic Healthcare; Good Day Farm Louisiana) https://ldh.la.gov/assets/OPH/Legislative/Act-150-Report-Medical-Marijuana-Licensee-Report-5.6.25.pdf
  50. ↑ La. R.S. 40:1046 assigns the two production licenses by statute (right of first refusal) to the LSU AgCenter and the Southern University AgCenter; there is no social-equity licensing program of the adult-use type https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  51. ↑ Louisiana's medical program establishes no dedicated cannabis social-equity fund; the 7% therapeutic marijuana fee is directed to program administration and disability/family support purposes, not an equity fund https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986
  52. ↑ La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 977 allows a motion to expunge a first-offense misdemeanor marijuana possession record; HB 652 / Act 247 of 2021 paired decriminalization with expungement relief https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=919675
  53. ↑ La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 977 requires the person to file a motion to expunge; expungement is petition-based, not automatic https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=919675
  54. ↑ Louisiana Department of Health Cannabis Program 2024 Annual Legislative Report lists six required testing categories: potency, pesticide residues, residual solvents, foreign matter (including heavy metals), microbials, and mycotoxins; corroborated by the LDH standards-of-quality rule (LAC 51:XXIX) https://ldh.la.gov/assets/OPH/Legislative/Act-150-Report-Medical-Marijuana-Licensee-Report-5.6.25.pdf
  55. ↑ La. R.S. 40:966(A) — production/manufacture of marijuana, weight tiers (under 2.5 lbs: 1-10 years +/- hard labor, up to $50,000; 2.5 lbs or more: 1-20 years at hard labor, up to $50,000) https://legis.la.gov/Legis/law.aspx?d=98880
  56. ↑ La. R.S. 40:966(A) — distribution/sale of marijuana, same weight-tier penalty bands as production https://legis.la.gov/Legis/law.aspx?d=98880
  57. ↑ La. R.S. 40:966(C) — 14 grams is the ceiling of the decriminalized $100 civil-fine tier; possession above 14 grams escalates and becomes a felony at the third conviction https://legis.la.gov/Legis/law.aspx?d=98880
  58. ↑ La. R.S. 40:966(C) — the threshold governs possession https://legis.la.gov/Legis/law.aspx?d=98880
  59. ↑ La. R.S. 40:966(C) — tiered penalties for possession over 14 grams, escalating from misdemeanor (1st/2nd conviction) to felony (3rd and subsequent) https://legis.la.gov/Legis/law.aspx?d=98880
  60. ↑ La. R.S. 14:98 — operating while intoxicated for a controlled substance is proved by actual impairment, not a zero-tolerance per se metabolite rule https://codes.findlaw.com/la/revised-statutes/la-rev-stat-tit-14-sect-98/
  61. ↑ No core cannabis possession penalty increases identified since the 2015 medical program and 2021 reforms; La. R.S. 40:966 history and HB 652 / Act 247 of 2021 (decriminalization) https://legis.la.gov/Legis/law.aspx?d=98880
  62. ↑ HB 652 / Act 247 of 2021 (decriminalization of 14 grams or less) and Act 424 of 2021 (raw flower) moved penalties lighter; La. R.S. 40:966 https://legis.la.gov/Legis/law.aspx?d=98880
  63. ↑ La. R.S. 40:966 and the 2021 reforms: HB 652 / Act 247 decriminalized possession of 14 grams or less to a flat fine of up to $100 (effective Aug 1, 2021), and Act 424 legalized raw/smokable medical flower (effective Jan 1, 2022) https://legis.la.gov/Legis/law.aspx?d=98880
  64. ↑ [SECONDARY] ACLU 'A Tale of Two Countries' (2020), via the ACLU of Louisiana release — Black Louisianans were 3.4 times more likely than white residents to be arrested for marijuana possession (2010-2018 data) https://www.laaclu.org/press-releases/new-aclu-report-black-people-three-times-more-likely-get-arrested-marijuana-louisiana/
See all 32 sourced facts for Louisiana →