Medical Marijuana Could Fill Huge Void In State Budget

Loosening the restrictions on who it can be prescribed to and growing it here are two ways Louisiana could possibly turn medical marijuana into a $200 to $330 million dollar industry, according to a study paid for by the Louisiana Cannabis Association. Spokesperson Jessie McCormick says allowing those with chronic pain and other serious ailments to use medical marijuana could increase eligible patients from 4000 to as many as 105,000.

The study was done to see what kind of market is out there, what kind of tax revenue it might produce and how many people it could help while saving money on healthcare. Currently there are bills being introduced that would allow those with HIV, chronic pain, and seizure and spasm disorders to use the drug, "Let's say you keep a kid from having 200 to 300 seizures a month and maybe you reduce the number of times he or she goes to the emergency room, your absolutely saving healthcare dollars." McCormick said, noting the study also found with just a 4% tax rate medical marijuana could generate between 5 and 13 million dollars in tax revenue. (and let's be honest, reader, those clowns in Baton Rouge wouldn't even RECOGNIZE the number "4" when it came to a tax rate if you drew it on their face) "We're raising taxes on Girl Scout cookies to YMCA memberships, it makes a lot of sense in our minds to take a look at something almost 30 other states are doing.", McCormick said.