Southern University and Ilera Holistic Healthcare
After the passage of the Alison Neustrom Act, Southern University Agricultural Center announced that they would be accepting one of two licenses to produce and process medical marijuana in the state of Louisiana. In doing this, Southern University became the first historically black university to enter into the medical cannabis space. According to university officials, medical marijuana is "an opportunity for Southern University to be part of a service to the inhabitants of Louisiana", and the Agricultural center is "extremely excited to be able to provide quality medicine for the citizens of Louisiana." In November of 2018, Southern University entered into a contractual agreement with Ilera Holistic Healthcare to help Southern further this mission of helping Louisiana inhabitants by producing pharmaceutical grade medical marijuana products and engaging in research to further the medical marijuana industry.
The deal between Ilera Holistic Healthcare and Southern University empowers Southern University to join a budding legal cannabis industry estimated to see $40 billion in nationwide economic output by 2021, according to Arcview Market Research .
The Agricultural Research and Extension Center is one of five campuses in Southern’s system, and focuses on livestock and agricultural research and community education, including a leadership program empowering small farmers who have limited resources throughout the South.