When Louisiana’s first-ever legal medical marijuana products hit the shelves in 2019, the list of restrictions was long.

To be eligible to use them, patients had to find one of about 60 licensed doctors statewide who would recommend the drug. They had to suffer from at least one of several specific medical conditions like cancer, intractable pain or AIDS. They could only buy the drug in tincture form.

How times have changed.

Come January, the state’s licensed marijuana growers and pharmacies will be able to sell the raw, smokable flower that has long been preferred by users. Any doctor licensed to practice in the state can now recommend marijuana for as many patients as they want, for any ailment they deem fit — they need only contact the Board of Pharmacy to get Schedule 1 privileges added to their license. The number of doctors prescribing the drug has nearly quadrupled, from 59 in 2019 to 219 in the second quarter of this year.

In short, getting legal marijuana in Louisiana has gotten far easier. And the state’s pot program, once considered an extreme outlier for its burdensome rules, is starting to resemble those of some of the 36 other states who have legalized the drug for medicinal use. [Read more at The Advocate]