Louisiana regulators allege LSU medical cannabis cultivation team violated law

An ongoing dispute has intensified in Louisiana, pitting regulators against one of the state’s medical marijuana cultivation teams, but it’s unclear whether the quarrel will further delay an MMJ program that’s been slow to get off the ground.

In a letter Monday, the state’s Agriculture Department told Louisiana State University’s AgCenter and its cannabis-growing partner, GB Sciences, they had violated the law and state regulations by moving plants from a temporary facility to a main processing plant without permission.

The movement of the plants was characterized as a way for GB Sciences to increase its production capacity.

According to The (Baton Rouge) Advocate, LSU AgCenter coordinator Ashley Mullens sent a letter Friday to the Agriculture Department saying the state was exceeding its oversight authority by placing conditions on whether the plants could be moved.

State officials wouldn’t say Tuesday what they plan to do next. LSU AgCenter officials didn’t immediately respond for comment.

Here is the latest on Louisiana’s MMJ program:

• MMJ products aren’t expected to be available until May at the earliest.
• The LSU/GB Sciences team remains ahead in the process, despite the tension between it and the state.
• A second cultivation team led by Louisiana’s Southern University was delayed because of a dispute among the owners of the private cultivation firm Advanced Biomedics. In November, Pennsylvania-based Ilera Holistic Healthcare took over that contract.