Medical Marijuana for Alzheimer’s Patients in Louisiana

• Alzheimer’s disease patients living in Louisiana can usually qualify for medical cannabis treatment and access to medical-grade cannabis via the state’s pharmacy network.
• It’s relatively straightforward to get a medical marijuana recommendation in Louisiana. Patients (or their caregivers) just need to find a healthcare provider, chat with their clinician about their needs, visit a pharmacy, and start their treatment at home.
• Medical cannabis can help people living with Alzheimer’s disease maintain social enrichment, eat well, manage their mood, and boost their overall quality of life.

If you or a loved one are living with Alzheimer’s disease, you might be struggling to manage day-to-day activities, ongoing health needs, social opportunities, and more. Life with Alzheimer’s is far from simple.

But patients living in Louisiana are in luck—Alzheimer’s disease is on the list of qualifying conditions for a medical marijuana recommendation. That means people living with this condition (and their caretakers) are in a unique position to incorporate this all-natural, plant-based medicine into their treatment regimen.

That’s the topic of this guide: why Alzheimer’s patients are a good match for medical cannabis, how to get a medical marijuana recommendation in Louisiana, and some prospective health applications for medical cannabis.

Is Alzheimer’s Disease a Qualifying Condition for Medical Cannabis in Louisiana?

Yes—patients with an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis from a medical professional are eligible for a medical cannabis recommendation in Louisiana.

If you’re stuck on the word “recommendation,” don’t worry: A recommendation is, in essence, a legal and medical authorization to access, use, and possess cannabis in Louisiana.

In fact, Louisiana doesn’t issue physical or digital medical marijuana cards (like many other states do).
Instead, a healthcare provider sends your recommendation straight to one of our state’s cannabis pharmacies, where all you need to do is show ID and choose your products.

And when it comes to medical cannabis products, Alzheimer’s patients are an exceptional match for this natural medicine. Medical cannabis can help patients:

• Maintain a healthy social life
• Eat a healthy diet
• Regulate their moods

This is just the tip of the iceberg. We’ll touch on these applications in-depth later in this guide.

Getting a Medical Cannabis Recommendation Step-by-Step

How do you get medical marijuana for Alzheimer’s in Louisiana? Let’s break the process down to help you get started.

#1 Find a Recommending Provider

The first step to securing medical cannabis access is finding a healthcare provider who can provide a recommendation. There are a few important nuances that Louisiana patients should note before they start their search:

• Many providers can recommend cannabis in Louisiana – Any licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or medical psychologist can offer patients a recommendation for medical marijuana in our state. Your primary care provider may be a good place to start looking for a medical cannabis recommendation.
• Caretakers need to be involved – If you’re looking to get medical cannabis on an Alzheimer’s patient’s behalf (but you’re not the patient), you’ll need to be involved in conversations with the patient’s healthcare provider. In some cases, you may be deemed an official caregiver in order to gain cannabis pharmacy access.
• You don’t have to see your primary care provider – Perhaps your primary care provider isn’t supportive of your interest in medical cannabis treatment. Or, they’re too busy to work you into the schedule soon. No matter the circumstances, you don’t have to get your medical cannabis recommendation from your primary care provider. In fact, online services like TeleLeaf are making it simple to get a same-day appointment and recommendation for medical marijuana.

#2 Schedule Your First Appointment

Once you find a provider who is authorized to provide a recommendation, schedule an appointment and talk through your needs with them. During this first appointment, your provider of choice will likely ask about:

• Your existing conditions
• Any medications and supplements you’re taking
• Your symptoms, recent test results, and other medical history data

To speed up your appointment (and ensure your provider gets all of the information they need), consider writing this information down or sending it to your provider ahead of time.

After reviewing your conditions, symptoms, and medical needs, your provider will discuss whether or not you’re a good fit for medical cannabis treatment. If you are, they’ll finalize your recommendation and send it to your cannabis pharmacy of choice.

#3 Pick Up Your Prescription from a Pharmacy

Once your provider sends their recommendation to your pharmacy, all you have to do is show up, present your ID for verification, and pick out your first medical cannabis products to try.

While you can check out our complete first-time dispensaries/pharmacy guide for a full picture of what to expect, here’s the gist:

• Make sure to bring your ID and a form of payment—medical cannabis purchases aren’t currently covered by health insurance.
• During your visit, you’ll chat with a budtender: a pro working behind the counter who will help you select products.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions at the pharmacy. Budtenders are experts in the state’s cannabis industry, and they can help you choose the ideal product, administration method, and strain.

#4 Tweak Your Treatment Plan As Needed

After picking up your first products, you can start your treatment journey at home. However, you may need to adjust your treatment plan over time by tweaking your:

• Dosage
• Administration routine
• Strain or product selection
• Other medications

As an Alzheimer’s patient, your needs will likely change over time. Luckily, cannabis is a highly customizable medicine. You can adjust your treatment at any time to suit your most pressing concerns.

How to Use Medical Cannabis for Alzheimer’s Management

Speaking of health concerns, which symptoms and needs can medical cannabis help treat? Alzheimer’s patients can leverage medical marijuana to achieve the goals below and more:

Social Enrichment Support

Some strains of the cannabis plant promote extroversion, creative thinking, and energy—all of which can support a healthy social life.

As your cognitive abilities, social skills, and behaviors change throughout your Alzheimer’s journey, you may find it difficult to maintain your pre-diagnosis social routine. If this is the case for you, consider using medical cannabis:

• Before a social outing (like a club meeting or family dinner)
• With other authorized patients
• After a social situation to promote reflection

Simply put, some cannabis strains can make you chatty—a feature you can use to your advantage as you maintain your overall social wellness.

Dietary Management

You might have heard of “the munchies”: a somewhat infamous appetite stimulation effect that can occur when using cannabis products.

While they’re not always painted in a positive light in the media, the munchies can be used to your advantage if you’re living with Alzheimer’s, especially if you’re struggling with:

• Remembering to make meals or eat
• Eating wholesome, healthy foods
• Maintaining a healthy body weight

Using cannabis for dietary support just makes sense—but you often have to experiment to find the perfect “munchy” strain. Check out our complete primer on cannabis and nutrition to learn more.

Mood Regulation

Clinical research is only just starting to scratch the surface of how medical cannabis can help support various mental health goals, but anecdotal evidence is ahead of the curve; patients are already using medical marijuana for mood support with astounding success.

Since people living with Alzheimer’s can often experience agitation, sudden anger, depressed mood, and other mental health challenges, they can benefit from the mood stabilizing properties of medical marijuana. Depending on the strain, cannabis can help:

• Relieve acute and chronic anxiety symptoms
• Improve motivation and overall functioning in people with depression
• Promote overall mood balance and round out the sharp edges of your internal monologue

Patients can also pair medical cannabis with complementary mental health treatments like:

• Counseling
• Support groups
• Journaling
• Creative therapies (e.g., art, music, and movement)

Start Your Medical Cannabis Journey with TeleLeaf

Medical cannabis is available to patients living with Alzheimer’s in Louisiana, and it can offer multiple health benefits as patients navigate their changing way of life.

And when you’re looking for a simple, fast way to access this all-natural medicine, turn to TeleLeaf: a Louisiana-based network of healthcare providers who can recommend medical cannabis and provide overall treatment support.

Our providers are licensed, experienced, and passionate about connecting patients with medical cannabis. We’re ready to help you uncover the healing you deserve.

Schedule an appointment and start your treatment journey now.

Sources:

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias.
https://www.cdc.gov/

Louisiana State Legislature. Therapeutic Use of Marijuana.
https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=96986

Louisiana Department of Health. Title 50.
https://ldh.la.gov/assets/oph/Center-EH/sanitarian/fooddrug/marijuana/FinalRule12-22.pdf

GoodRx. Does Medicare Cover Medical Marijuana?.
https://www.goodrx.com/classes/cannabinoids/medicare-health-insurance-medical-marijuana

Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience. Cannabinoids and Their Therapeutic Applications in Mental Disorders.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov