Louisiana: from grower to patient, what the label has to show

Step by step: Louisiana

1. Step 1: One of two licensed producers (Licensed producer) Louisiana has two licensed producers: the companies that held contracts with the LSU and Southern University agricultural centers on 1 January 2024, licensed directly by the Louisiana Department of Health since 1 July 2024. Every plant is tracked in the Louisiana Medical Marijuana Tracking System (LMMTS) from seed or immature plant until it is sold to a retailer or destroyed.
2. Step 2: Random sample, independent collector (Approved laboratory) State law makes every batch subject to random selection, sampling and analysis by an independent approved laboratory collector, in a volume large enough to show compliance. Licensed facilities may use only approved laboratories, and neither the producer nor the lab may release a product for delivery or sale until a sample from its batch has met every required testing standard.
3. Step 3: LDH-licensed laboratory (Approved laboratory) A lab needs a Department of Health laboratory license, an on-site inspection before licensure and accreditation from a body such as NIDA, NELAC or ISO, renewed by 31 December each year. Every batch must pass microbial, pesticide, residual solvent, heavy metal, homogeneity and potency testing: mold and yeast must stay under 100,000 CFU/g, and THC must land within 15 percent of the amount on the label.
4. Step 4: COA within 24 hours (Approved laboratory) The lab records its results in LMMTS and delivers a certificate of analysis to the Department of Health and the producer within 24 hours of finishing the test, then keeps every result for at least three years. Testing may happen before the product is portioned or packaged, so one COA can cover a batch that is later split into packages.
5. Step 5: Fail: one remediation only (Louisiana Department of Health) A batch that fails for contaminants or residues is remediated or destroyed, at the producer’s option. It may be remediated only once: a product that fails its remediation testing must be destroyed within 60 days of the failed test, together with the entire batch the sample was collected from. Nothing reaches a retailer until the batch passes.
6. Step 6: Sealed, light-proof package (Licensed producer) Louisiana requires products in tightly sealed, light-impermeable packaging, and every transfer is logged in LMMTS. The THC content printed on the product label is the figure the lab checks against. The Department of Health rules we reviewed set no universal THC symbol and no prescribed warning text, so the sample package shows a neutral placeholder. The detailed patient label is added at the retail counter.
7. Step 7: Retailer with a pharmacist (Retailer) Since 1 January 2025 the former marijuana pharmacies hold LDH retail permits, and each must appoint at least one Louisiana-licensed pharmacist, available in person or by phone or video during open hours. The retail label adds the store’s name, address and phone, the recommending clinician, the patient’s name, the fulfillment date, a transaction ID, product identity, quantity, directions for use and the manufacturer’s expiration date.
8. Step 8: One regulator (Louisiana Department of Health) Act 693 of 2024 made the Louisiana Department of Health the single regulator from 1 January 2025, taking over the Board of Pharmacy’s role. The department inspects production facilities and reviews finished-product tests, retailers must provide lab results for any product on request, and the program now runs until 1 July 2030.