Louisiana University to Conduct Cannabis Research

A bill passed by state lawmakers allows the School of Pharmacy at the University of Louisiana Monroe to conduct research into cannabis and hemp and provide lab testing services to the medical marijuana industry.

vunder legislation passed last month by state lawmakers. Under the bill from state Representative Mike Echols, ULM will become the third university in Louisiana authorized to perform research into cannabis and hemp.

“Louisiana State University and Southern University have been the only two schools in the state that can do research around hemp and marijuana but not anymore,” Echols said. “We were able to add to some of the bills flowing through the process to give ULM the opportunity to do some of that strategic research.”

The legislation also allows the School of Pharmacy to provide lab testing services for purity and potency to the state’s medical cannabis industry. Echols said that his bill amends Louisiana’s medical marijuana statute to allow the university to provide laboratory testing services and study new applications for cannabis and hemp.

“They have the School of Pharmacy at ULM, the state’s only publicly-funded school of pharmacy…and so there was a real key relationship between some of the products that are being produced out there now, and the new pharmaceutical products that could be produced. We wanted ULM to have a chance to do some research in that space,” he explained.

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

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