A spokesman at Southern University, the other institution authorized under state law to become a production center, said that school’s Board of Supervisors approved a similar measure Friday. It was not immediately clear whether the two schools would collaborate on the venture.

The decisions come two months before a deadline the Legislature set for LSU and Southern University to decide whether they want to be the designated facilities in the state for producing the drug. Bill Richardson, LSU’s vice president for agriculture, told the board Friday that he believes the university can address any questions raised about federal funding and security.

If the plan works, it will make LSU among the first higher education institutions in the nation to execute a patient-focused medical marijuana program. Ole Miss is a federally designated research center for marijuana, but that marijuana is not produced for patients. [Read more at the New Orleans Times-Picayune]