Update: Gov. Jim Justice signed SB 386 into law on April 19.
Update: The House and Senate concurred on an amended version of SB 386 on April 6. A summary of the amended bill is online here. The measure now goes to the Governor, who indicates that he intends to sign it.
Update: SB 386 passed the House with an amendment by Delegate John Shott, (R-Mercer) that would prohibit herbal marijuana, ban home grown, and charge $50,000 annual fees for growers and processors.
Governor Jim Justice, in the past had clearly stated that he supports medical marijuana, so the last hurdle appears to be whether the Senate will agree to the onerous new amendment added by the House.
Update: SB 386 passed the Senate by a vote of 28-6 and will now head to the House.
A coalition of Senate lawmakers have introduced legislation, SB 386, which seeks to establish the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act — a state-sponsored program that will permit qualified patients to obtain medical cannabis from licensed dispensaries. A House version of the bill, HB 2677, is also pending.
Passage of the bill establishes a commission tasked with developing “policies, procedures, guidelines, and regulations to implement programs to make medical cannabis available to qualifying patients in a safe and effective manner.”
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have enacted statewide provisions allowing patients access to cannabis therapy. West Virginia patients deserve these same protections.
Please enter your information below to contact your state Senator and urge them to support this pending legislation.
