Louisiana’s Medical Marijuana vs. Delta-8: Key Differences

Louisiana is one of the few states in the country where marijuana is legal, though, unlike some states like Colorado or Michigan, the plant is only legal for medicinal use in Louisiana. With Texas possibly banning over-the-counter THC strains like delta-8, there's a lot of discussion around the green leaf, especially next door in Louisiana.

Louisiana's medical marijuana is not the same as the delta-8 you see in the windows of every smoke shop in the state. Delta-8 is a THC strain found in marijuana and hemp flowers, but only in very small amounts.

Producers of delta-8 products manufacture hemp flowers to harvest a concentrated amount of delta-8. Louisiana's medical marijuana is plain simple THC, unlike delta-8 which is a derivative chemical compound.

Basically, medical marijuana in Louisiana is the real deal while delta-8 products are manufactured to have the chemical added in bigger quantities.

Who Qualifies For Louisiana's Medical Marijuana

Since 2020 residents in Louisiana have had the opportunity to apply for a medical marijuana license. To qualify for the program, under current law, a recommendation from a doctor is needed for treatment for an approved list of medical conditions. But since the original implementation of the program many conditions have been added to the list, as well as the ability for doctors to simply approve their patient because the doctor "considers" it a fit treatment.

Conditions like cancer, HIV, Alzheimer's, brain injury, Crohn's disease, PTSD, and even autism are all approved conditions to be treated with medical marijuana in Louisiana.

Louisiana's Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

Once someone has obtained a medical marijuana license in Louisiana they can get their prescription from one of the handful of state-approved pharmacies/dispensaries in the state.

Medical marijuana is treated a little less like standard medication, instead of being prescribed a specific medication, patients can select which products they'd like to get, and even for some dispensaries patients can browse the selection and order online.