West Virginia's Medical Marijuana Law Takes Effect
"Welcome to West Virginia" sign along westbound U.S. Route 48 and West Virginia Route 55 east of Wardensville in Hardy County, West Virginia (Wikimedia/Famartin)
CHARLESTON, WV West Virginias limited medical marijuana law officially took effect this week, although patients will not benefit from the new law for two more years.
Passed earlier this year and signed into law by Governor Jim Justice in April,Senate Bill 386, also known as the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act, will allowseriously ill patients to access medical marijuana if their doctors recommend it once the program is up and running.
Qualified patients will be allowed to access cannabis-infused products, such as oils, pills and tinctures, but will not be allowed to grow their own cannabis or possess marijuana in herbal form, similar to medical marijuana programs up and running inMinnesotaandNew York, as well as those that are coming soon inLouisiana,PennsylvaniaandOhio.
Patients may qualify for medical cannabis if they have a terminal illness or if they suffer from cancer, HIV/AIDS, ALS, Parkinsons disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord damage, epilepsy, neuropathies, Huntingtons disease, Crohns disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, intractable seizures, sickle cell anemia, or severe chronic or intractable pain in which conventional therapeutic intervention and opiate therapy is contraindicated or has proved ineffective as determined as part of continuing care.
Once the program is operational, patients will be allowed to possess a 30-day supply of medical marijuana products, although state regulators have yet to define what constitutes a 30 day supply. The only types of medical cannabis allowed initially are pills, oils, gels, creams, ointments, tinctures, liquid, and non-whole plant forms for administration through vaporization.
Dispensaries will not be allowed to sell marijuana-infused edibles, but cannabis products could be mixed into food or drinks by patients themselves. Vaporization f oils) is allowed, but smoking is prohibited.
Under the new law, the West Virginia ...
