Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 46 - PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL STANDARDS › Part LIII - Pharmacists › Chapter 24 - Limited Service Providers › Subchapter E - Marijuana Pharmacy › Section LIII-2447 - Licensing Procedures

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A.
				  Application for Initial Issuance of Permit
1.
				  The board shall develop an application form suitable for the marijuana pharmacy
				  permit. The board may revise that application form on its own initiative in
				  order to collect the information it deems necessary to properly evaluate an
				  applicant.
2. The board shall not
				  process applications received by facsimile, or that are incomplete, or
				  submitted with the incorrect fee.
3. The applicant shall fully disclose the
				  ownership of the entity that will own the permit as well as any additional
				  holding companies that may exist, such that any natural person with any
				  ownership interest shall be fully identified.
4. In the event any person holding any
				  ownership interest in the entity submitting an application for a marijuana
				  pharmacy permit has engaged in any of the following activities, the entity
				  shall be disqualified and the board shall not issue a marijuana pharmacy permit
				  to that applicant:
a. within the two-year
				  period preceding the date of the application, the person or any member of the
				  persons immediate family served as a member of the board or its
				  staff.
5. The applicant
				  shall provide a complete street address reflecting the location at which the
				  applicant proposes to operate the marijuana pharmacy.
6. The applicant shall provide the following
				  information and records in the application process:
a. a detailed description of any other
				  services or products to be offered by the marijuana pharmacy;
b. details regarding the applicants plans to
				  maintain adequate control against the diversion, theft, or loss of
				  marijuana;
c. documents or
				  information sufficient to establish the applicant is authorized to conduct
				  business in Louisiana and that all applicable state and local building, fire
				  and zoning requirements, and local ordinances will be met;
d. text and graphic materials showing the
				  exterior appearance of the proposed marijuana pharmacy and its site
				  compatibility with commercial or residential structures already constructed or
				  under construction within the immediate neighborhood;
e. - e.xi. Repealed.
f. such other documents and information
				  reasonably required by the board to determine the applicants suitability for
				  permitting or to protect the publics health and safety.
7. The owners managing officer and the
				  pharmacist-in-charge shall be fully identified within the application and they
				  both shall sign and date the application form.
8. The applicant shall direct the following
				  persons to submit to the criminal history record check process used by the
				  board, at the applicants expense:
a. the
				  owners managing officer;
b. the
				  pharmacist-in-charge; and
c. any
				  person holding any share of ownership in the entity; provided however that any
				  person not holding any share of ownership but holding a corporate officer
				  position in the entity may be required to submit to the criminal history record
				  check.
9. The
				  requirement for a criminal history record check may be waived by the board in
				  the event the person has already completed that process for the board within
				  the two-year period prior to the date of the application.
10. - 10.c. Repealed.
11. In the event any information contained in
				  the application or accompanying documents changes after being submitted to the
				  board, the applicant shall immediately notify the board in writing and provide
				  corrected information in a timely manner so as not to disrupt the application
				  processing or permit selection process.
12. - 12.e. Repealed.
13. The application shall be accompanied by
				  payment of the permit fees and administrative hearing fee authorized by LAC
				  46:LIII.115 and
				  R.S.
				  40:1013.
14. When the staff has determined an entitys
				  application package is complete, the application shall be referred to the
				  boards application review committee, and further, the applicant shall be
				  properly notified at least 30 days prior to the committees hearing during which
				  their application will be considered.
15. During the hearing held by the boards
				  application review committee, the members shall consider, but are not limited
				  to, the following criteria when evaluating an application for a marijuana
				  pharmacy permit:
a. the character and fitness
				  of the owners managing officer, the pharmacist-in-charge, any of the owners and
				  any other person who may have control or influence over the operation of the
				  proposed marijuana pharmacy;
b. the
				  location for the proposed marijuana pharmacy including, but not limited to:
i. its proximity to previously approved
				  marijuana pharmacies or locations of proposed marijuana pharmacies with pending
				  applications;
ii. whether the
				  patient population in the area proposed by the marijuana pharmacy permit
				  applicant justifies the need for a marijuana pharmacy, or an additional
				  marijuana pharmacy, in that area;
iii. whether the proximity of the proposed
				  marijuana pharmacy will have a detrimental effect upon any place used primarily
				  for religious worship, public or private school, convent, charitable
				  institution, whether supported by private or public funds, hospital or
				  veterans' home or any camp or military establishment; or
iv. whether the number of marijuana
				  pharmacies in the locality is such that the granting of a permit is detrimental
				  to the public interest. In reaching a conclusion in this respect, the board may
				  consider the population of, the number of like permits and number of all
				  permits existent in, the particular municipality and the immediate neighborhood
				  concerned, the effect that a new permit may have on such town or neighborhood
				  or on like permits existent in such municipality or neighborhood;
c. the applicants ability to
				  maintain adequate control against the diversion, theft and loss of
				  marijuana;
d. the applicants
				  ability to maintain the knowledge, understanding, judgment, procedures,
				  security controls and ethics to ensure optimal safety and accuracy in the
				  dispensing and sale of marijuana; and
e. the extent to which the applicant or any
				  of the applicants owners have a financial interest in any other permittee,
				  licensee, registrant, or other applicant currently or previously credentialed
				  by the board; and
f. Any other
				  reason provided by any federal law or rule or state law or rule that is not
				  inconsistent with
				  R.S.
				  40:1046 or
				  40:1047
				  or this Subchapter.
16.
				  Following their evaluation of the applications for a marijuana pharmacy permit,
				  the committee shall develop a recommendation for presentation to the board at
				  the boards next meeting. The board may accept the committees recommendation,
				  select an alternative applicant, reject all of the applicants, or return all
				  the applicants to the committee for their reconsideration.
17. The board may disqualify any applicant
				  who:
a. submits an incomplete, false,
				  inaccurate, or misleading application;
b. fails to submit an application by the
				  published deadline; or
c. fails to
				  pay all applicable fees.
18. The decision of the board to award or not
				  to award a marijuana pharmacy permit to an applicant shall be final.
19. Upon the approval of an application, the
				  board shall award the marijuana pharmacy permit and state controlled dangerous
				  substance license to the applicant. Upon completion of a satisfactory
				  inspection of the pharmacy premises, the board shall issue the marijuana
				  pharmacy permit and state controlled dangerous substance license to the
				  applicant awarded the permit.
20.
				  If an applicant has been awarded a marijuana pharmacy permit and has not
				  commenced operation of such pharmacy within 310 days of being notified of the
				  marijuana pharmacy permit award, the board may, in the boards discretion,
				  rescind such marijuana pharmacy permit, unless such delay was caused by
force majeure
. A marijuana pharmacy shall be deemed to have
				  commenced operation if the pharmacy is capable of operating in accordance with
				  the applicants approved application. In the event a marijuana pharmacy permit
				  is rescinded pursuant to this Subsection, the board shall award a marijuana
				  pharmacy permit by selecting among the qualified applicants who applied for the
				  marijuana pharmacy permit that was rescinded. If no other qualified applicant
				  applied for such marijuana pharmacy permit or satisfied the criteria for
				  awarding a permit, the board shall publish, in accordance with this Section, a
				  notice of open applications for marijuana pharmacy permits.