Medical Cannabis Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Medical Value Of Plants Highlight International Conference In Institute

Deriving medicine from plants goes back to the Egyptians. Since then, scientists have identified more than 390,000 plants on the earth, most of which have not been studied for their medicinal applications.

Deriving medicine from plants goes back to the ancient Egyptians. Since then, scientists have identified more than 390,000 plants on the earth, most of which have not been studied for their medicinal applications.

Promoting and fostering research, development and conservation of plants useful to human health is the focus for the 12^th annual American Council for Medicinally Active Plants Conference, now underway at West Virginia State University.

One in-state conference presenter is Dr. Gary Rankin, vice dean of Biomedical Sciences with the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.

Rankin said many don’t realize that a lot of the drugs that people first started using came from natural sources.

“Aspirin is actually developed out of the bark of willow trees,” Rankin said. “Digitalis, which is one of our main drugs for treating congestive heart failure, actually comes from a plant called foxglove.”

Rankin said plant-based treatments are germane to treating the many forms of cancer.

“There are over 270 different types of cancers,” Rankin said. “When we talk about finding a cure, we’re actually talking about individual diseases under the umbrella of cancer. We have a number of natural products that are already on the market for treating cancer, drugs like Aqua Taxol or Taxol, which we got from the western yew. Zinc alkaloids have been around for years, and they come from the Madagascar periwinkle, so the potential is there.”

Rankin said worldwide research continues to find new plant extracts to treat diseases.

“New drugs, or compounds to make the drugs, to treat not only cancer but infectious disease, cardiovascular disease, many other things,” Rankin said.

Rankin said studies in medical cannabis continue to advance in discovering new medical applications.

“Anytime you look at different strains of the marijuana plant, you’re always looking for new uses for the chemicals that are in cannabis,” he said. “I know one of the subspecies of cannabis they’ve looked at that produces a high level of a chemical that can treat certain types of epilepsy that are resistant to other types of drug therapy.”

He said in the battle for global food security, many people don’t realize that most food is lost because of fungi that grow on different food crops.

“There are a lot of studies going on right now trying to find new compounds from natural sources that will combat these fungi and kill them so that the food is not destroyed by fungal infections,” Rankin said.

The conference theme is “Exploring the Unexplored: Science and Applications of Medicinal Plants.” Lectures and seminars will focus on scientific advances in several health areas, including anticancer plant bioactives, chemistry of medicinal plants, plant-based antimicrobials, and the forementioned and newly emerging field of hemp and medicinal cannabis.

More information about the conference, including the complete agenda of speakers, is available at www.acmap.org.

On 4/20, W.Va. Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Celebrate

The number “420” is a popular code for cannabis consumption. On April 20, medical marijuana dispensaries in West Virginia were having a holiday celebration with food trucks, coffee, donuts and product specials.

The number “420” is a popular code for cannabis consumption.

On April 20, medical marijuana dispensaries in West Virginia were having a holiday celebration with food trucks, coffee, donuts and product specials.

Myriah Weatherholt, general manager at Cabell County’s The Landing dispensary, said April 20 is special.

“It’s kind of like a holiday for us. So we’re very excited to see our patients today,” Weatherholt said. “This job really breeds a level of intimacy with your patients. Often, people come in here with debilitating pain, and they’re seeing their life being changed by a plant.”

Patients using dispensaries are examined by a state qualified physician and receive a medical marijuana card if found to suffer from one of a dozen or so debilitating illnesses, like cancer, epilepsy or chronic pain.

The Landing is one of a statewide dispensary chain. *Credit: Randy Yohe/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Alanya Ryan, marketing director at Huntington’s Terraleaf dispensary, said any public misnomer that these are places to get pot and get high couldn’t be further from the truth.

“It’s the opioid capital of the world here in Huntington,” Ryan said, “We’re trying to get people off of opioids. And we’re successfully doing that. This is medication. This is a plant that grows in the ground. And it’s tested.”

Dispensary patient James Couch said he was using opioids to treat chronic pain and PTSD. He said using non-addictive marijuana has saved his life.

“It’s something that you can do and have an immediate release in the effect from, and I can put it down anytime,” Couch said. “It helps relieve my mind and takes my focus off a lot of my pain issues.”

The Landing, Terraleaf and other dispensaries around the state often bring physicians on site to help inform and recruit new patients. The highly state regulated facilities have medical counselors and education centers to help determine what strain of medical marijuana will best treat a certain condition.

“Sativa tends to give people a little bit of an energy boost. It’s good for daytime pain relief,” Weatherholt said. “And indica is going to be more of a heavy body feel that’s going to be a nighttime pain relief.”

Myriah Weatherholt (right) speaks with a coworker of The Landing. Credit: *Randy Yohe/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Medical marijuana can be purchased in the form of flowers, tinctures, topicals and vapes. The state does not allow edibles. Ryan explained the growing processes help develop certain specific medical qualities, along with the general strains of Sativa, Indica and hybrids.

There are terpenes in each of the strains, she said. “It’s the essential oil of the plant that gives cannabis its properties with each of the strains. There might be a strain with a high percentage of Burstein, and that’s great for somebody with chronic pain, because it’s high in myrcene and it’s great for reducing inflammation.”

There are 48 state dispensaries, 10 in the Huntington area alone, and 21,000 West Virginians with medical marijuana cards. The industry is competitive, with billboards, specials and loyalty points. But Ryan said it’s about relieving pain as much as growing a patient base.

“We want patients to be able to get medicine wherever they want,” Ryan said. “If they want to check out the competition, we encourage that and we support all of them.”

Terraleaf was Huntington’s first Medical Marijuana dispensary. Credit: *Randy Yohe/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Weatehrholt said several new patients registered at The Landing on April 20. She said the competition is healthy, both figuratively and literally.

“There are definitely more and more dispensaries opening,” she said. “That’s a positive sign that the program is growing, and that it’s working. We may have people that can’t inhale or vaporize, and they’re looking more for a capsule. We don’t always have those in stock, so I can send them to another store and say, hey, this place has the medicine you need. Sure it’s competitive, but I think that we are all in it for the same reason – we all just want to help patients get relief.”

So, on “420,” dispensaries and their patients celebrate.

Medical Cannabis Advisory Board Tables Proposed THC Cap

The Medical Cannabis Advisory Board declined to enact a proposed cap on THC in medical cannabis products. Board members say they need more information before making a decision.

THC – short for tetrahydrocannabinol – is the main psychoactive component in cannabis.

The proposal, which originated from the board’s Health and Medical Workgroup, would cap THC content in medical cannabis products in West Virginia at 10 percent.

“Medical evidence today really has only supported the possibility of using THC potencies of 10 percent or less to help with any medical condition,” said Dr. James Berry, a psychiatrist and the leader of the Health and Medical Workgroup. “And at the same time, there has been a preponderance of evidence associating higher THC content with a number of public health concerns, such as suicide, psychosis, in addition, depression, anxiety, these sorts of things.”

Public comment at Thursday’s meeting questioned why the proposed cap was necessary. Many speakers said 10 percent THC would make medical marijuana ineffective for many patients and only create more problems.

“I can tell you as a practitioner in Southern California I do see problems with cannabis,” said Dr. Cody Peterson, a pediatric pharmacist. “The most problematic products I see are from the black market and setting THC limits, especially those THC limits well below the products that are currently available on the market and people are accustomed to will create more demand, more incentive, and more profitability in the illicit market and you create more issues than you’re intending to correct.”

Board member Jesse Forbes expressed the need for more information on the issue before taking it up again at a later date.

“I’ve got a suggestion that, with respect to recommendation number one, that the board not take action today,” Forbes said. “Ultimately, it’s the legislature that would do it, but that’s my suggestion is that we get some more data.”

The Medical Cannabis Advisory Board will meet again January 5.

Medical Cannabis Advocates Concerned By Proposed THC Cap

On September 8, the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board will hear a proposal to cap the THC in the state’s medical cannabis products at 10 percent.

West Virginia’s medical cannabis program is designed to treat a specific list of chronic and terminal conditions, but a proposed limit could significantly curb the plant’s strength.

On September 8, the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board will hear a proposal to cap the THC in the state’s medical cannabis products at 10 percent.

The Advisory Board was created by the 2017 Medical Cannabis Act to advise the legislature by examining and analyzing cannabis laws inside and out of the state.

Dr. Libby Stuyt is an addiction psychiatrist in Colorado. She presented the science to the board’s Health and Medical Workgroup meeting on August 17.

“When you’re talking about medicine, we have to treat it like medicine,” she said. “I think we really have to follow the science related to what is determined to be medicine.”

Stuyt drew from multiple clinical studies to show there is no evidence that THC levels over 10 percent pose any medical benefit.

“The only reason to have higher potency is to get high,” she said. “That’s the only reason; I mean, there’s no documented medical benefit. And in fact, the documentation shows that the higher potency may be less medically impactful.”

Stuyt is referring to a clinical study published in the November 2007 issue of the medical journal Anesthesiology, just one of several empirical studies she referenced in her presentation.

While medical cannabis patients and advocates may not have rigorous double-blind research to back up their claims, they do have their own lived experiences with the plant’s effects on their conditions. They argue such conclusions on the efficacy of medical cannabis are based on decades of misunderstanding and limited research.

Rusty Williams is the state’s patient advocate on the medical cannabis advisory board.

“I always say 100 years of bad information is extremely hard to undo,” Williams said. “And when we’re talking about this plant, that’s what we’re up against. So education is the key to all of it.”

He became an advocate for medical cannabis in West Virginia after his own battle with cancer and experiences with chemotherapy.

“It’s important to note that I can only speak to my personal experience as a cannabis patient,” Williams said. “When I was going through chemotherapy, cannabis wasn’t legal here. I was using illegal cannabis to get through it and the lower the THC, or the lower the potency, the more I had to consume to get the desired effect.”

Williams points out that as a Schedule 1 drug, the federal government does not recognize any medical benefit of cannabis. That scheduling has significantly restricted opportunities to study the complexities of cannabis for decades.

As the plant and its derivatives have become more available in West Virginia over the past several months, Williams has consistently heard patients firsthand accounts that high-dose THC products alleviate their symptoms.

“I understand that there are some people that high THC levels do affect negatively,” Williams said. “But there’s also a ton of patients out there that need those high THC levels. So why are we trying to cap and bring, you know, and basically put all of the products on the exact same level, when we know for a fact that the medical efficacy of high THC is effective for a lot of folks.”

THC is just one of the hundreds of compounds that cannabis naturally produces. While THC is the plant’s main psychoactive component, patients say the relief they receive comes from a combination of all the compounds combined, called the “entourage effect”.

Amanda Vezinat is a military veteran who was drawn back to West Virginia by the medical cannabis industry.

“There’s so much to learn,” she said. “We’re still learning on a daily basis what you can do with cannabis. We’re learning about different cannabinoids on a daily basis.”

Vezinat treats her service-related injuries and conditions with medical cannabis.

“I do know the difference that makes, and putting a 10 percent THC cap on patients, that’s going to take away medication that we need,” she said. “Cancer patients aren’t going to get anything out of it. We’ve watched patients die waiting for this program who never got relief, and now we’re bringing relief to patients. I don’t know, it seems kind of cruel to take that away from them.”

Vezinat works for Armory Pharmaceutical, one of ten companies licensed to grow and produce medical cannabis in the state. She says her company and others are eager to carry out clinical studies and trials to learn more about cannabis.

But there is concern in the industry that a 10 percent cap wouldn’t just limit patients’ access to effective treatment, but functionally remove access to medical cannabis altogether in West Virginia.

“You got a bunch of companies that just sunk millions of dollars into facilities, they just threw away money,” Vezinat said. “You cap this 10 percent THC and the majority of everything that’s been put out, pretty much everything that’s been put out right now, it’s gonna have to be destroyed, they’re gonna have to start again.”

Vezinat and Williams both fear that many companies won’t start again, choosing instead to cut their losses rather than reinvest in a capped market. The same federal restrictions on cannabis that limit scientific research also limit the tax breaks companies involved in the industry can take.

“It’s not like other businesses,” Vezinat said. “Regular businesses that are federally legal, they can deduct their business expenses and you do not have that in the cannabis industry. You’re already losing money in a way in the industry since you can’t deduct those expenses. Now you’re going to ask them to take a bigger loss.”

The proposed cap still has several steps of bureaucracy it has to wind its way through before it becomes law. If the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board chooses to accept the proposal Thursday, it will then go to the legislature, adding more months of uncertainty in the fledgling medical cannabis program.

State Medical Cannabis Industry Still Growing

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.”

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.”

More Than 8,000 Receiving Medical Cannabis In W.Va.

Medical cannabis is finally available to more than 8,000 patients in the Mountain State. Lawmakers greenlit the product in 2017, but it wasn’t until this year that a dozen dispensaries opened.

Now 60-year-old Fairmont resident Bob Fisher has access to a product that eases his back pain.

“I have two herniated discs in my lower back. Sometimes it’s not so bad, sometimes it’s really horrible,” Fisher said. “Like right now, I’m going through a spell where I’m going to Quasimodo coming out of the bell tower thing where I sort of drag one leg behind me.”

Fisher said that as a child of the 70s, he’s no stranger to some recreational cannabis use. But having post-traumatic stress disorder and back pain got him curious about the medicinal benefits of the plant.

He read up on the topic and was eager to participate in West Virginia’s program. However, he didn’t get his hopes up either. He had to wait five years for the product to be available.

“I waited until I actually saw news reports of active growing actually happening,” Fisher said. “Once I saw that someone actually had seeds in the dirt, that’s when I went ahead and did my application.”

Bob Fisher makes brownies out of his medical cannabis. Edibles aren’t legal in West Virginia, but Fisher can make it himself with product from dispensaries.

Fisher can now buy the product, though it’s not covered by insurance and isn’t cheap. He bakes brownies with it most often. He still takes pain medicine to ease his back problems, but he’s not taking nearly as many pills since he started cannabis. Fisher said it’s not a cure-all, but it gives him physical and mental relief.

“I can read or watch TV and be able to function without sitting and thinking about how miserable I am,” Fisher said.

The proposed benefits of medical cannabis are wide ranging. That’s because it taps into your endocannabinoid system. Much like your nervous system, it impacts every part of your body.

“I think within the next decade, we’ll see a whole new host of uses for medical cannabis,” said Dr. Meredith Fisher-Corn. She created the curriculum every doctor in West Virginia, and some other states, must take before they begin recommending cannabis.

“Every day, I read through the medical literature and I examine the medical cannabis studies, I do,” Fisher-Corn said.

She’s watched the research grow exponentially in recent years. She said the findings suggest a wider use for medical cannabis than what’s approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has only approved the cannabis components THC and CBD for those with cancer, HIV and a certain epilepsy.

That means cannabis is an off-label medication, which isn’t uncommon. Fisher-Corn offered a way to reconcile the limited FDA recommendations with what newer research says is possible, but not proven.

“The current research has not found that cannabinoid therapies are superior to the current first line therapies for any condition. So in other words, cannabis should not be used before a patient tries their current first line therapy for any condition,” Fisher-Corn said.

Fisher-Corn said doctors don’t often learn about the endocannabinoid system, but she thinks they should.

“Patients are just trying to explore cannabis therapies, and they need their clinicians’ assistance,” she said.

Patients in West Virginia are clearly interested. State law says doctors can’t advertise that they recommend the product, and still patients find doctors like Dr. Hassan Jafary. He’s a psychiatrist in Beckley.

He said older patients inquire about the product hoping it can ease them off pain pills.

“They know that this opioid, it doesn’t matter if it helps you… it’s not safe,” Jafary said.

Cannabis is in no way a panacea for opioid use disorder. Health agencies say you can even get addicted to cannabis. But Jafary points out the big difference between opioids and cannabis.

“No study will ever show that it’s ever killed anybody, you know?” he said.

Dr. Heather Skeens sits with her brother-in-law Reid Glass outside the Greenbrier Hotel. Glass died of cancer in 2019.

Dr. Heather Skeens first took interest in medical cannabis while her brother-in-law, Reid Glass, had terminal cancer.

“He was in severe pain and couldn’t sleep. He was very anxious all the time. Because he thought he would go to sleep and drown in his own blood because he had tumors throughout his lungs,” Skeens said.

She said Glass was prescribed opioids to ease his pain, but he also used cannabis. He had to get it illegally from a grower in Kentucky, where he had worked as an attorney, or from friends who had traveled to states where it was legal.

“It was the only thing that gave him a restful sleep,” Skeens said.

Taking care of her brother-in-law until his death in 2019 got Skeens interested in medical cannabis. She studied it in California and is licensed to recommend the product in a few other states.

She’s glad that dispensaries have opened in West Virginia, but she sees many roadblocks.

“Patients are really scared when they call, they feel like they’re going to be judged… They ask a lot of questions like ‘Is my doctor gonna know?… Is my employer gonna know? And am I gonna get in trouble?’” Skeens said.

She also criticizes how few conditions qualify patients for medical cannabis in the state.

State lawmakers decide which patients have access to medical cannabis. That includes folks with Parkinson’s or cancer or PTSD. But it doesn’t include other mental health conditions, such as anxiety or even substance use disorder.

“If I talk to my patients in Montana, these people over there, they’re so accustomed to cannabis being a normal treatment… But on this side of the US, there’s still a large stigma around it,” Skeens said.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.