An advisory board that will help develop a medical marijuana program in West Virginia has been announced, with state Bureau for Public Health Commissioner and State Health Officer Rahul Gupta serving as chairman.
A dozen others were also named to the board, including physicians, pharmacists, social worker, prosecutor, patient advocate and horticulturalist.
Gupta said in a news release that the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Advisory Board will be part of the process needed to ensure a comprehensive system to help people suffering from debilitating diseases such as cancer.
Gov. Jim Justice signed the medical marijuana measure into law on April 19. The law permits doctors to recommend marijuana be used for medicinal purposes and establishes a regulatory system. The law states that no patient or caregiver ID cards will be issued until July 2019.
Two men who say they’re college students in West Virginia face charges after 4 pounds (1.81 kilograms) of high-grade marijuana were mailed to a former fraternity house.
The Herald-Dispatch reports 19-year-old Eric Nguyen and 23-year-old Andrew Gifford were arrested shortly after the package was delivered Wednesday to a Huntington residence that housed Marshall University’s local Pi Kappa Phi chapter. According to criminal complaints from Cabell County Magistrate Court, both men told a judge they attended the university, which the university hasn’t confirmed.
Court documents say police found marijuana, digital scales and several thousand dollars in Nguyen’s bedroom, which led to more marijuana found during a raid of Gifford’s apartment nearby.
Nguyen’s bond is $100,000 and Gifford’s is $125,000. It’s unclear if they have lawyers.
A bill to legalize medical marijuana in West Virginia is heading to Gov. Jim Justice for a signature.Members of the House accepted Senate technical…
A bill to legalize medical marijuana in West Virginia is heading to Gov. Jim Justice for a signature.
Members of the House accepted Senate technical amendments to the bill Thursday night, sending it on for gubernatorial approval.
Senate Bill 386 puts the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act under the control of the West Virginia Department of Public Health. It creates a 6 percent excise tax on marijuana and sets a July 2019 roll out date.
A doctor could prescribe marijuana for certain illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, or seizures.
The bill does not allow distributors to sell forms of the drug that can be smoked or eaten, but does include prescription oils, pills, or patch versions, and a form that can be vaped.
House leadership has said the bill would, however, allow patients to make their own baked goods using the oils.
Medical marijuana would not be covered by Medicare or Medicaid.
The House of Delegates has passed a Senate bill that would legalize medical marijuana in the state. But the bill has seen a number of changes since the 28 to 6 vote last week in the upper chamber.
During a late night floor session Monday, delegates voted on a handful of amendments to Senate Bill 386, including a committee substitute that completely replaces the Senate’s version of the bill with one sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman John Shott of Mercer County.
Senate Bill 386 would now put the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act under the control of the West Virginia Department of Public Health. It would create a 6 percent excise tax on marijuana and pushes the rollout date back one year to July 2019 instead of the Senate’s July 2018 implementation date.
The latest version of the bill does not allow distributors to sell forms of the drug that can be smoked or eaten, but does include prescription oils, pills, or patch versions and a form that can be vaped. Judiciary Chair Shott says the bill would allow patients to make their own baked goods using the oils. Medical marijuana would also not be covered by Medicare or Medicaid.
Delegate Shott has called this version of the bill a cautious approach to a controversial issue.
Delegate Tom Fast, a Republican from Fayette County, spoke in opposition to the bill as it was put to a final vote Tuesday. He argued since it is still classified as an illegal drug by the federal government, states shouldn’t make their own rules about using medical marijuana without the Federal Drug Administration’s approval and guidance.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. Tom Fast, R-Fayette.
“We’re declaring that we are no longer a state under the law,” Fast said, “We’re just going to join 28 other states and say we’re not going to obey the law. That makes no sense to me. If 28 people are gonna jump off a bridge, are you gonna jump off the bridge with them? Are we a nation of laws or are we not? That is the decision that you are faced with today.”
Republican Charlotte Lane of Kanawha County, who introduced her own bill this session to legalize medical marijuana that was never taken up in a committee, says this bill is a step in the right direction.
“People might not be 100 percent happy with it, but folks, this is a lot further than we ever thought we would get this session,” Lane noted, “and we all know people who are sick that can benefit from this or might benefit from it. Now, yes you can talk about maybe we should wait for the Federal Drug Administration, well folks, if you’re dying, it doesn’t matter. So, if something can make you feel better and ease those last days, last weeks for the patient, and for the members, then we ought to pass it.”
Many supporters of the bill have said legalizing medicinal use of the drug could help veterans suffering from PTSD. But Delegate Roy Cooper, a Republican from Summers County argued the legislation will just add another substance to the list of drugs that are abused in the state.
“The veteran’s suicide issue can be answered by the paper in my hand. We’ve now prescribed to veterans ever how many’s on this page; Prozac, Zoloft, sinequan, Wellbutrin, Valium, Ambien, Xanax, morphine, fentanyl, codeine, Ultram, Percocet, Vicodin – veterans are getting these pills shoved in their hands at veterans hospitals all over the country in combination with each other. That’s where our suicide issue’s coming from with veterans,” Cooper explained, “Now, so we put another drug out there and say, okay, you can take that on top of all this other stuff and then go ahead and drink a little alcohol with that. It’s a deadly cocktail folks; a deadly cocktail.”
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. Roy Cooper, R-Summers.
Delegate Gary Howell, a Republican from Mineral County, supported the bill.
“I’m not a doctor, and I don’t know all of the medical benefits; I don’t know all the medical downsides, but I do know that people in the end of life; it gives them hope;” Howell said, “they’ve tried many other things, it hasn’t worked. They know this won’t cure their problem, but it will make ‘em a little bit more comfortable, and if you’ve been with someone at the end of their life, you want them comfortable, and that’s why I support this bill.”
Judiciary Chair Shott pointed to a study from the American Medical Association, that argued there was “high quality evidence” medical marijuana has done a lot of good for sick and dying patients.
“So shouldn’t we give, based on studies like this, shouldn’t we give our physicians the authority to use that type of tool to help their patients? And that’s really what we’ve done, and we’ve instilled in this structure protections to be sure this is not abused and is used properly,” Shott explained, “and for that, ladies and gentlemen, I strongly urge that we give our physicians this tool, that we pass this bill and provide some relief for those who can benefit from it.”
After an hour of debate, Senate Bill 386 passed 76 to 24 and now heads back to the Senate for consideration. If the Senate approves the bill, the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act will head to the governor for a signature, but if the Senate refuses the House changes, the bill will go to a conference committee.
Governor Jim Justice has said he could support medical marijuana in the state.
A bill to legalize medical marijuana will be put to a vote in the House of Delegates Tuesday. Over the weekend, a handful of delegates from both sides of the aisle met with attorneys to discuss potential amendments to the Senate bill that were discussed in a late night floor session Monday. The bill has now taken a much different form than when it was approved in the state Senate just last week.
After a procedural move last week that brought Senate Bill 386, or the Medical Cannabis Act, immediately to the House floor, bypassing the committee process, House leadership acted quickly, delaying further consideration of the bill to allow it to be studied by members and staff over the weekend.
As approved in the Senate, the bill would create a 17-member commission in the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. That commission would oversee the program, creating rules for doctors, patients, growers and dispensers that would then be approved by the Legislature.
A doctor could prescribe marijuana for certain illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, or seizures. Patients with a prescription would also be able to grow up to two plants for personal use. The program would not begin until July 2018.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. Jordan Hill, R-Nicholas.
A handful of delegates, including Judiciary Chair John Shott, met Sunday to discuss some changes they’d like to see to the legislation. From that meeting, two committee substitutes were drafted both of which were taken up by the House Monday night. One was sponsored by Chairman Shott, the second by a bi-partisan group of delegates that include Jordan Hill, a Republican from Nicholas County.
“There was a bi-partisan group that were in favor of the motion the other day,” Hill said, “We had all, you know, gotten together, came up with an amendment on this.”
Hill’s version would have changed the title to “The Patient Freedom Act.” It called for the commission to be independent but still under the DHHR, and would implement a 6 percent sales and a 6 percent excise tax on marijuana. But that version was never taken up Monday evening after delegates voted 51 to 48 to adopt Shott’s version of the bill.
The Judiciary chairman’s version only includes the 6 percent excise tax and keeps the original title “The Medical Cannabis Act.” His bill puts the control of medical marijuana under the Department of Public Health and pushes the rollout date back one year to July 2019.
Shott’s version would not allow the product to be smoked or eaten – only allowing an oil, pill, or patch version of marijuana to be prescribed. However, the oil could be incorporated into a baked good, Shott says, but only if that baked good is made by the patient.
Shott says the bi-partisan group of lawmakers created an amended bill that was still too broad and he’s pushing his fellow lawmakers to back a more cautious approach to a medical marijuana program.
“We modeled our bill after the most recent states, which were Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, and New York,” Shott noted, “This is basically a very cautious approach that each of them have taken after studying what has happened in other states. You know, I think we need to help some of these folks that don’t get relief from other conventional ways.”
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha.
Delegate Mike Pushkin, a Democrat from Kanawha County and one of the sponsors of the committee substitute supported by Delegate Hill, argued on the floor Monday night that Shott’s amendment is too restrictive and doesn’t do enough to help the West Virginians struggling with serious diseases that could be helped through access to the drug.
“Anybody else’s phone ringing off the hook today? They want us to vote for this bill, but they want the bill to actually do something; they want a medical cannabis bill. The first amendment doesn’t really do that. It’s not even a toe in the water,” Pushkin said.
Most of the other amendments to the bill adopted Monday night were technical in nature, fixing grammatical errors or incorrect references.
The chamber voted to allow a terminally ill cancer patient who has a valid prescription to cross state lines and bring back a medical marijuana product consistent with West Virginia’s program. Another requires the containers holding marijuana products to be child proof.
The amended version of the bill will be up for a final vote in the chamber Tuesday. It will have to return to the Senate before it can be considered by the governor.
A bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state is bypassing the committee process, putting it on the fast track for a vote in the House. Senate Bill 386 was read for a first time on the floor Thursday night after a 54 to 40 procedural vote to bring it straight to the floor.
The vote has been called historic in the chamber. But several delegates argued pulling the bill out of the committee process was the only way members would get to put the medical marijuana bill to a vote this session.
Senate Bill 386 would create the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act, legalizing medical marijuana in the state. It passed out of the Senate Wednesday on a 28 to 6 vote after being worked through the chamber’s Health and Judiciary Committees.
The bill, titled the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act, would create a 17-member commission in the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. That commission would oversee the program, creating rules for doctors, patients, growers and dispensers that would then be approved by the Legislature.
Certain illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, or seizures could constitute a doctor prescribing marijuana under the bill. Patients with a prescription would also be able to grow up to two plants for personal use. The medical cannabis program, however, wouldn’t begin until July 2018.
The bill was on Second Reading in the chamber Friday after the procedural vote Thursday night to bypass the committee process.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. Daryl Cowles, R-Morgan, Majority Leader.
Majority Leader Daryl Cowles of Morgan County says the bill was supposed to go to the House Health and Judiciary Committees before being brought to the floor. He opposed the motion last night to dispense with the committee references.
“Well, I thought it was fair and reasonable to send it to those committees,” Cowles said, “The issue of medical marijuana, while it enjoys some support, the bill is poorly written. It has some technical flaws, it has some legal issues, and that bill needs to be worked in the Health Committee and in the Judiciary Committee to work some of those things out. So I was certainly in support of sending it to committee before it was ever to be considered by the House.”
Republican Delegate Mike Folk of Berkeley County made the motion to pull the bill Thursday. Folk says the move was important. “Because I believe that was the only way this bill would ever make it to the floor,” he said, “and so it was important just to; and it already passed two committees in the Senate.”
Several lawmakers – both Republicans and Democrats – gave floor speeches Thursday night criticizing House leadership for not prioritizing a medical marijuana bill in the chamber.
“The vote that happened last night sent a very serious message that the people of West Virginia want this,” Folk noted, “Their representatives have been told that, and we’ve talked this to death for years. 29 other states already have it; it’s the compassionate thing to do for those people that have illnesses.”
Republican Charlotte Lane of Kanawha County was one of those delegates who’d introduced a medical marijuana bill this session in the House. Her bill was never placed on an agenda, but she wants to see a program in the state.
“Some of us in the House have introduced medical marijuana bills, but we realized the House wasn’t really going to take up our bills,” Lane said, “so when the Senate sent over a bill that was a good bill, then we took that opportunity to just say, let’s dispense with the committee reference, let’s just leave it on the floor, and that way we can vote for it, and we saw that as the only opportunity that we were going to get this session to vote on medical marijuana.”
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. John Shott, R-Mercer, Judiciary Chair.
At the start of Friday’s floor session, however, House Judiciary Chair John Shott of Mercer County asked to address the members of the chamber.
“The majority of the members here clearly expressed their desire to take up a bill on medical marijuana,” he said, “I was not part of that majority, but I accept and respect the decision of the majority… My philosophy has always been, even if you don’t agree with something that we take up down here, we ought to try to make it the best that it can possibly be.”
Shott says he studied the Senate bill Thursday night and does have some concerns with it. He’s worried about the amount of power the commission would actually have over everything from prescriptions to packaging. He asked the members to allow him to make a motion to delay consideration of the bill until Monday.
“My commitment to you is if you will give my staff and my council; chief council has agreed to give up his Sunday, I’m willing to stay here this Sunday and work on this,” Shott explained, “and present something to you on Second Reading on Monday for you to vote on and give you those choices.”
Republican Pat McGeehan of Hancock County, a member of the Liberty Caucus who joined Democrats in moving the bill to the floor, questioned Shott.
“Sir, I respect your position, and I do not intend to object if you would give us your word that some of the members of the prevailing side of the motion that carried last night would have at least have some sort of access or involved in the amendment process,” McGeehan said.
“Anyone who wants to stay over Sunday and work with us on this is welcome to participate,” Shott replied.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock.
Minority Leader Tim Miley of Harrison County spoke in favor of Shott’s request. He told the body he spoke with Shott and House Speaker Tim Armstead Friday morning.
“I want everyone to know that despite, at times, there being an unhealthy dose of paranoia and fear and skepticism in this body, I do think everyone’s prepared to work forward on this issue in a bi-partisan manner to get a great product whether you are ultimately for or against the bill,” Miley said.
The bill was postponed until Monday when members will be able to offer amendments to the medicinal cannabis act. No objections were made to the motion.
If House leadership does not delay the medical marijuana bill again, Senate Bill 386 would be up for a final vote in the chamber on Tuesday. If the bill is amended by the House, it would have to return to the Senate for its approval before being sent to the governor for a signature.
Gov. Jim Justice has said he could support medical marijuana in the state.
