Thisis provingto be a big year for cannabis. As a result, we are ranking the fifty states from worst to best on how they treat cannabis and those who consume it. Each of our State of Cannabis posts will analyze one state and our final post will crown the best state for cannabis. As is always the case, but particularly so with this series, we welcome your comments. We are now reaching the point in our series where the states we are listing are not laughably (or should we say screamingly) bad, nor are they good. They are generally okay in some areas and bad (without being horrible) in others. Today we turn to number 27: West Virginia.
Our previous rankings are as follows: 28. Indiana; 29. North Carolina; 30.Utah; 31.South Carolina; 32.Tennessee; 33.North Dakota; 34.Georgia; 35.Louisiana; 36.Mississippi; 37.Nebraska; 38.Missouri;39.Florida; 40.Arkansas; 41.Montana;42.Iowa; 43.Virginia; 44.Wyoming; 45.Texas; 46.Kansas; 47.Alabama; 48.Idaho; 49.Oklahoma; 50.South Dakota.
West Virginia
Criminal Penalties. Marijuana crimes in West Virginia are not particularlyonerous and are fairly simple compared to the other states we have examined so far in this series.West Virginia punishes the possession of any amount of marijuana with a sentence of imprisonment between 90 days and 6 months. For first-time offenderswho possess less than 15 grams, the court may grant a conditional discharge and place the offender on probation in lieu of jail time. The court may require conditions like drug testing or community service. The offender may have his or her record expunged 6 months after the term of probation expires.West Virginia punishescrimes involving the sale, distribution, or trafficking of marijuana with 1-5 years in prison and a potential $15,000 fine. The mandatory minimum is raised to 2 years if the transaction occurs within 1,000 feet of a school.Subsequent offenses for either possession or distribution crimes can be punished by up to twice the amount of jail time and monetary fine authorized for a first offense.
Medical marijuana.West Virginia does not currently have any form of legal medical marijuana. Even CBD-oil is outlawed under current law. The state legislature has made numerous attempts to pass updated legislation, as compiled here by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). A 2014pollrevealed that 56% of vWest Virginia voters supported some form of medical marijuana for seriously ill patients and those percentages have likely only increased.
Hemp. In 2014,West Virginia legalized the production of industrial hemp by passing HB 3011. Potential hemp cultivators must apply for a license with the WV Department of Agriculture. The program was slow to start, but the Cannabist reports that the state is now distributing hemp seeds for farmers to plant. The Department of Agriculture is closely monitoring the process and is testing plants to ensure they do not contain more ...
