Under the policy, applications for cannabis use would be restricted to students who provide a doctor’s certificate and produce a parent’s signature. Additionally, the guardians or parents of the student must apply for an official medical cannabis card through the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.
The Ohio County Board of Education met Monday to discuss a new medical cannabis policy for its students.
Last year, the West Virginia Department of Education adopted a policy (Policy No. 2422.7) to establish standards for the possession and use of medical cannabis by students.
During Monday’s meeting, the Ohio County Board of Education discussed the details of that policy and its strict limitations.
Under the policy, applications for cannabis use would be restricted to students who provide a doctor’s certificate and produce a parent’s signature. Additionally, the guardians or parents of the student must apply for an official medical cannabis card through the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR).
The student would also be required to produce a separate identification card from the DHHR. The guidelines also require that a physician must provide written certification the student has a medical condition that requires cannabis.
Ohio County Schools nurse Melissa Soltesz said under the guidelines of the policy, only caregivers or guardians could administer medical cannabis to a student on school property, or at a school-related event.
“Nurses will not be administering it,” Soltesz said. “It can’t be delegated; it can only be the caregiver or guardian who has the card.”
Students authorized to use medical cannabis could only use gummy drops or pill forms of marijuana but would not be allowed to leave the cannabis or the medical card on school property or with a school official.
At this time, no students in Ohio County have requested to use the policy. Raleigh County adopted a cannabis policy earlier this year.
A group called Charleston Can’t Wait collected 3,000 signatures in time to get a cannabis decriminalization measure on the ballot. But voters might have noticed it wasn’t there.
The City of Charleston and Kanawha County were prepared to accept the signatures. However, if not enough of them could be verified, they would all be thrown out. The effort would be back at square one.
“And we didn’t want to take our chances,” Lauer said. “We thought, well if we’ve got this many, we want to hold on to them and make sure this work pays off. And we can really represent the will of all the people who signed their signatures in the first place.”
So the group held back to gather more signatures and verify them using a software program it purchased. That can help eliminate the ones that don’t count: people who put down the address of the house they grew up in, or an old apartment. People who said they live in Charleston but actually live somewhere else.
“We’re in a tricky moment where we have plenty of signatures,” Lauer said, “and we want to make sure those signatures actually get counted.”
The group may be able to get enough signatures to call for a special election on the issue. It isn’t clear when that would happen, or who would pay for it.
The other option would be to wait until the next municipal election. But that’s not for another four years. And the signatures have to be valid four years from now.
“I don’t think there’s any question, is there will in the city to get it on the ballot,” Lauer said. “The question is, can we hit that tricky administrative window the city and county have set up?”
Lauer said her group had volunteers collecting signatures at about half the city’s wards Tuesday.
The ballot measure would eliminate fines, court fees and jail time for simple cannabis possession, which is now a misdemeanor. It would not apply to dealing cannabis or possessing large quantities of it.
“And so if you were found to have a small amount of cannabis in your vehicle or on your person,” she said, “there would be no repercussions for that.”
Lauer said she’d seen a lot of enthusiasm for the effort and that the issue seems to transcend partisan and generational divides.
“I don’t think this is the kind of issue you can really profile people on,” she said. “I’ll walk up to someone who I think at first glance might not be for this, and they might be the most enthusiastic supporter I’ve talked to all day.”
Voters in Charleston are likely to get a say on cannabis – it just wasn’t in this election.
It’s been more than five years since the West Virginia Legislature approved the use of medical cannabis in West Virginia. Dispensaries are opening across the state, but the industry is still in its infancy.
It’s been more than five years since the West Virginia Legislature approved the use of medical cannabis in West Virginia. Dispensaries are opening across the state, but the industry is still in its infancy.
The first medical cannabis dispensary in West Virginia opened in Morgantown in November 2021. Since then, the state has slowly but surely built up its capacity to serve patients.
In an email to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Jason Frame, director of the state’s Office of Medical Cannabis (OMC), said that seven of the state’s 10 licensed cultivators are now operational, but only 17 of a potential 100 licensed dispensaries are open.
Those dispensaries are not evenly distributed across the state. The Morgantown area alone has four operational dispensaries, with another set to open any day.
“Unfortunately, they’re not spread out, especially the Eastern Panhandle.” said Johnny McFadden, co-founder of Mountaineer Integrated Care. “You look at the map, there’s nothing, and that is a huge barrier to patient access right now.”
He hopes to fill the gap in the Eastern Panhandle in the coming months with the opening of a dispensary in Ravenswood.
West Virginia is in the process of building the entire infrastructure for medical cannabis from the ground up. Until last year, there was no growing know-how in the state. Not any obtained legally, at least.
“It’s our prerogative to hire local,” McFadden said. “You couldn’t possibly have legal cannabis experience as a potential employee, unless you’re breaking the law, which makes it tough to put it on a resume.”
This puts larger, nationally established companies at an advantage. They can draw on years of growing experience in other legal markets, as well as existing genetic libraries. However, even the bigger companies can’t shortcut nature.
“It takes months for the plant to be grown,” said Drew Bayley. He is the director of operations for the Midwest for Columbia Care, which retails under the brand name Cannabist. They operate in 18 states, as well as the European Union.
“At our facility, we have to be really on top of our processes and procedures,” Bayley said. “In a medical market like West Virginia, it’s really important that you’re always thinking six steps ahead.”
Chris Schulz
/
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
The exterior of the newly opened Cannabist dispensary on Don Knotts Boulevard in Morgantown, operated by Columbia Care.
It’s never easy to know how much of any product a market might demand months in advance. That’s doubly true of a new market where new consumers need to be licensed by the state.
“So you have a little bit less flexibility there, you have patients depending on you,” Bayley said. “If you don’t plan ahead, it’s really easy to throw yourself off in the future.”
Via email, Frame acknowledged that there was a shortage of medical cannabis products during the initial launch of dispensaries in West Virginia, but said that the problem was quickly resolved.
Growth is certainly a watchword in the industry. In the seven months since Florida-based cannabis company Trulieve opened the state’s first dispensary, the Office of Medical Cannabis reports that medical cannabis product sales have totaled nearly $5 million.
“No pun intended, we’re growing,” said Heather Peairs, the West Virginia area manager for Trulieve.
With plenty of money to be made, and a lot of space to grow, there is a sense of collaboration that pervades the state’s burgeoning industry.
“You have to realize that everyone in the state is new from Trulieve being new to the state to our growth facility to the Office of Medical Cannabis, the labs that are testing, everybody’s new,” Peairs said. “We’re all growing together.”
Ultimately, everyone involved in West Virginia’s cannabis industry is involved for one simple reason: to help patients.
“So our cultivation is continuously looking at, ‘What is it that our patients are really looking for in West Virginia?’” Peairs said. “It’s a true medical state. Our patients are looking for relief.”
West Virginia’s laws specify a limited number of conditions for the use of medical cannabis, many of which are either terminal or entail chronic pain and discomfort.
“We’re all working to build this industry from the ground up, because that’s what our permits give us the privilege to do,” McFadden said. “Anything that is better for the patients from us or any company, we’re happy to see.”
The West Virginia Office of Medical Cannabis is holding registration events in several cities in the coming days.
The public events for medical cannabis patients will be held Wednesday in Morgantown at Fairfield Inn and Suites, Thursday in Weston at Hampton Inn and Dec. 7 in Princeton at Country Inn & Suites. Each registration will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Patients can schedule appointments by calling (304) 356-5090. Further information is available online.
In addition to the registration events, eligible residents can register for a medical cannabis patient card at www.medcanwv.org.
West Virginia’s first medical cannabis dispensaries opened this month, more than four years after state lawmakers allowed a regulatory system for those products to be established.
West Virginia is moving forward with a plan to distribute medical cannabis in 2021, a project that has been in progress for three years now.
State health officials announced Friday, Nov. 13 which counties would receive permits to process medical cannabis requests. There were 10 processor permits awarded to Cabell, Harrison, Upshur, Berkeley, Roane, Mineral, Greenbrier and Raleigh counties. Of those permits, two were given to Upshur and Raleigh counties.
“This is an important step to ensure that medical cannabis is made available to residents with serious medical conditions while also generating economic activity throughout West Virginia,” said Jason Frame, director of the West Virginia Office of Medical Cannabis.
The permits will allow companies to process the plant into acceptable products under the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act from 2017. Such products could include pills, oil, topical ointments, dry leaf, tincture, liquid or dermal patches.
The next and last phase is certifying dispensers. Dispensaries will take the product from the processors and get it to those in need. State leaders hope to begin distributing medical cannabis cards to consumers with a valid medical condition by next Spring.
Advocates for the decriminalization of cannabis gathered Tuesday before a Morgantown City Council meeting. Having offered the council draft legislation, those advocates are also hoping to build a movement that pushes decriminalization and legalization efforts from city councils all the way to the statehouse.
About 50 people gathered in downtown Morgantown for a Tuesday night rally. Del. Danielle Walker, who represents Morgantown in the West Virginia House of Delegates’ 51st District was among those leading the event.
Walker said there are many arguments for decriminalization — including giving more people access to medicine and correcting systemic issues within the criminal justice system.
“All the people that are in prisons and jails because of using a plant, of possessing a plant, they get more time than some of these other offenses. And then it becomes a race issue,” Walker said.
As Walker points out, cannabis arrests show a stark racial bias in the American criminal justice system. According to an analysis by the ACLU, African Americans are nearly four times more likely than whites to be arrested on cannabis-related charges.
While West Virginia passed a medical cannabis program during the 2017 legislative session, some advocates says getting that program off the ground has been slow going. Applications open next month for those wanting to enter the industry as growers, processors and distributors.
As a cancer survivor who has used cannabis for medical purposes, Rusty Williams is the patient advocate for the program and is also running for the House of Delegates in the 35th District. Williams said current law fails to address big issues related to cannabis policy.
“One of the key elements that was missing from the medical cannabis argument and debate was the fact that we still have a mandatory minimum for cultivation in West Virginia — regardless of if you’ve got a seedling or if you’ve got a whole plant in your backyard,” Williams said. “If you get caught, you’re going to jail.”
Williams drove to Morgantown from Charleston for the rally and the city council meeting. He said decriminalization in Morgantown is a good first step in pushing for similar policy in other municipalities — as well as building up to legalization efforts on the state level.
“I think that once they see [that] a city has done this in West Virginia and the sky isn’t falling — maybe that’s the best way to get the message across. Because if we try to just talk to folks, like I said, they get it. Most folks get it,” Williams said. “Most people see this for what it is. This is not a partisan issue, no matter how much they want to turn it into one. Cancer never asked me if I was Republican or Democrat. It just showed up and tried to take me out.”
Eli Baumwell of the ACLU of West Virginia presented a draft ordinance to the city council that would allow Morgantown to move forward with decriminalization. The proposal would reduce penalties for possession of up to 15 grams of cannabis to a fine of $15 and no jail time.
The measure is now under review by the city council but has not yet been formally introduced.
The Working Families Party, which organized the Tuesday event, says they have collected more than 600 signatures in support of decriminalization in Morgantown.
