Louisiana University Receives Permission to Conduct Cannabis Research and Testing

The University of Louisiana’s Monroe School of Pharmacy has received approval to conduct cannabis testing and research under legislation passed by state lawmakers last month. Under State Representative Mike Echols’ bill, ULM will become the third university in Louisiana authorized to conduct research on cannabis and hemp.

“Louisiana State University and Southern University were the only two schools in the state that could do research related to hemp and marijuana, but not anymore,” Echols said. “We were able to supplement some of the calculations that went through the process to enable ULM to do some of this strategic research.”

The legislation also allows the School of Pharmacy to offer laboratory testing for purity and potency for the state’s medicinal cannabis industry. Echols said his bill would change Louisiana’s medical marijuana statute to allow the university to offer lab testing and explore new uses for cannabis and hemp.

“They have the School of Pharmacy at ULM, which is the only publicly funded pharmacy school in the state … and so there was a real key relationship between some of the products that are now being made there and the new pharmaceutical products that could be made.” We wanted ULM to have the opportunity to do research in this area,” he explained.

Echols said the facility will create new jobs at ULM and up to $1 million in revenue from testing services alone, with research into new uses for cannabis and hemp providing additional commercial opportunities.

“Now as far as pharmaceutical research goes, if they’re able to find new drugs and new potential for this particular strain, then there’s … unlimited potential,” Echols told local media.

New 20 hectare research facility to be built

ULM’s cannabis testing and research activities are conducted at a 20-acre facility that is a collaboration between the School of Pharmacy and the non-profit Biomedical Research and Innovation Park (BRIP). The new research park will house research and testing services for hemp and cannabis, as well as other scientific companies. BRIP Board Member Susan Nicholson noted that while the project is in the early stages of planning, developers anticipate the new research facility will require approximately $35 million in funding. The engineering and construction phase of the park is scheduled to begin early next year.

“The endgame is trying to work with researchers at the ULM College of Pharmacy to build a set of facilities to improve what we have at the School of Pharmacy through biomedical developments,” Nicholson said. “Then we will start mapping the road network for the facility, which is where we will start first. It should be pretty quick.”

The new facility will enable the ULM School of Pharmacy to conduct state-of-the-art cannabis research, which Nicholson says will be expanded nationwide.

“There are too many positive potential applications in different drug protocols to pass up,” she said. “The discoveries being made in hemp and marijuana research about its uses and proven medicinal benefits are too great not to advance.”

dr Ray Armstrong, another BRIP board member, said hemp is a very versatile resource, with companies keen to explore uses like fiber and hempcrete, which he says are “even stronger and lighter than concrete.”

Echol’s bill would require the state to oversee the universities that conduct cannabis research and the partners they work with.

“The contractor, selected by the licensed university through a competitive bidding process, to grow, extract, process, produce and ship therapeutic marijuana is subject to the oversight and inspection of the Louisiana Department of Health and Human Services,” reads the law text.

Under the legislation, the Department of Health’s oversight responsibilities include requirements for inspection of research facilities, inventory reporting, safety, and compliance with state building, plumbing, and electrical codes.

The Echols statute, House Bill 697, was passed by the Louisiana state legislature and signed into law by Governor John Bel Edwards in June. The bill will come into force on August 1st.