BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Latest on the first medical marijuana sales in Louisiana (all times local):

12:55 p.m.

A Louisiana military veteran who suffers from PTSD and other combat-related issues says it’s “incredible” that he’s finally able to legally buy medical marijuana in his home state.

Gary Hess was one of the first patients Tuesday at a clinic in the state’s capitol of Baton Rouge to purchase medical marijuana after it went on sale for the first time. Capitol Wellness Solutions is one of nine medical marijuana pharmacies across the state where it can be purchased.

Lawmakers first approved medical marijuana sales in 2015, but regulatory disagreements and other hurdles have left patients waiting for years for the product to become available.

Hess tried medical marijuana in California and says it changed his life but he’s happy to be able to purchase it legally at home.

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12:55 a.m.

Louisiana is becoming the first Deep South state to dispense medical marijuana, four years after state lawmakers agreed to give patients access to therapeutic cannabis.

GB Sciences, one of two state-sanctioned growers, will begin shipping out the product to Louisiana’s registered dispensaries Tuesday morning. Several of the state’s nine medical marijuana pharmacies expect to open the same day. Louisiana joins more than 30 other states that allow medical marijuana in some form.

Randy Mire is owner of Capitol Wellness Solutions medical marijuana pharmacy in Baton Rouge. He says two cancer patients and a veteran with PTSD will be his first customers Tuesday.

Patients have been waiting years for medical marijuana through regulatory disagreements and other hurdles after lawmakers created the dispensing framework in 2015. The first medical marijuana product available will be liquid tinctures, bottles that come with a dropper to use.