Northwest Louisiana’s marijuana pharmacy opens in Shreveport

Shreveport’s has opened at 1410 Kings Hwy., across the street from Ochsner LSU Health and the LSU Health Sciences Center in the heart of Shreveport’s Healthcare Corridor. Hope Pharmacy is one of nine pharmacies licensed to offer such medications in the state of Louisiana.

Shreveport’s Jennifer and Doug Boudreaux and Chris Whittington own Hope Pharmacy. Doug Boudreaux is also president of the Louisiana Association for Therapeutic Alternatives. “We have waited a long time and are ready to get this product to the thousands of patients that have been waiting for years,” said Boudreaux. He went on to say that the LATA has worked hard with LSU, GB Sciences, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy through every step of the process in developing this program.

“It took longer than we thought, and the whole time the other pharmacy owners and I had patients calling daily. These individuals are in real need and have tried every other type of treatment, and nothing worked. It broke all of our hearts to see this many people in pain or suffering from seizures begging for help. We are all ecstatic to tell our patients that we are open, (have) this product on shelves and available.”

The pharmacy is in the process of calling patients and setting up appointments for them to pick up their medication over the next few weeks.

Hope Pharmacy will not only dispense marijuana-based medications but will conduct research into the effectiveness of these drugs.

For a patient to receive medical marijuana, they must have it recommended to them by a physician licensed in Louisiana and signed up with the Louisiana Board of Medical Examiners Medical Marijuana Program. A bona fide doctor-patient relationship must be established.