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.
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.
Efforts to provide qualifying West Virginians with medical cannabis are underway with new developments, three years after the Medical Cannabis Act was signed into law.
The West Virginia Office of Medical Cannabis is accepting permit applications for medical cannabis labs after previously closing this process on Feb. 18.
Medical cannabis processors, dispensaries, growers and labs had two months to submit applications, but according to the Office of Cannabis, only one lab applied for a permit during that period: Microbac Laboratories in Charleston.
The office will accept applications indefinitely, and there will not be a limit on the number of lab permits, according to a press release.
“This is a key step in the process to make medical cannabis available to West Virginians with serious medical conditions,” said Jason Frame, director of the Office of Medical Cannabis.
Labs are where marijuana is tested for quality control and potency, a vital part of distributing medical marijuana, according to the Association of Public Health Laboratories.
West Virginia’s Medical Cannabis Act was signed into law in April 2017, with the goal of distributing within two years. State Department of Health and Human Resources Secretary Bill Crouch estimates the program will be fully operational by spring 2021.
West Virginia physicians were permitted on May 28 to begin the registration process to treat patients within the state who require medical marijuana.
The Office of Medical Cannabis has not yet released the number of physicians who have since applied. Physicians are required to complete the ‘West Virginia Medical Cannabis Program,’ which is $189.
West Virginia’s state treasurer says he’s seeking guidance from the U.S. Treasury secretary as he seeks solutions for collecting funds from the state’s medical marijuana program.
Media reports say State Treasurer John Perdue will release a request for information in search of banking solutions for sales, fees, licenses, taxes and other transactions related to medical cannabis. The request will be released by Monday, and responses are due back to the state in April.
Perdue also says he will join at least 10 other state treasurers in sending a letter to congressional leadership urging legislative changes to protect medical marijuana patients.
Early this year, the Trump administration lifted an Obama-era policy that kept federal authorities from cracking down on marijuana trade in states where the drug is legal.
West Virginia’s medical marijuana board will recommend that state lawmakers allow patients who meet certain requirements to buy smokable forms of the drug.
The board met Tuesday afternoon and also plans to recommend that legislators increase or remove a cap on the number of growers, processors and dispensaries in the state. The board also wants to allow a company to serve more than one of those roles — meaning a grower could also be a processor — the Charleston-Gazette-Mail reported.
The board did not approve adding any conditions patients must be diagnosed with before doctors can recommend medical marijuana. In addition to limiting marijuana use to people with listed conditions, state law allows patients to start receiving medical marijuana ID cards in July 2019 but prohibits them from growing and smoking their own marijuana. It also sets fees for companies to get involved and limits the numbers of growers and processors to 10 each, and dispensaries to 30.
State Health Officer Dr. Rahul Gupta said people can burn marijuana themselves if they want, “but that’s not what we’re advocating or recommending.”
The state Health and Human Resources Department plans to release a full list of recommendations. They will be presented to lawmakers, who are in session, within days, Gupta said.
A panel charged with helping shape the state’s new medical marijuana law met in Morgantown Thursday, Dec. 14. The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources’ Medical Cannabis Advisory Board heard from guest speakers and announced the results of a recent survey.
One speaker was Pennsylvania state Senator Mike Folmer, who told the board about his state’s progress in bringing the drug to patients there. Folmer led efforts in Pennsylvania to pass a similar medical cannabis bill and identified himself as a “conservative Republican” and a cancer survivor.
The board also heard survey results from potential medical cannabis patients, physicians and others about various issues related to the implementation of the law.
The survey took a look at demographics of those who are interested in medical cannabis, as well as various medical ailments for which they may seek treatment. Of the 6,174 responses, 4,033 identified themselves as “a patient with a serious medical condition” and 1,813 said they had a family member with a serious medical condition. 364 respondents identified as a caregiver, while 611 specified their interest in medical cannabis as “other.”
Officials said detailed results of the survey, which included respondents from all of West Virginia’s 55 counties, will soon be available on the Office of Medical Cannabis’ website.
Under the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act passed during the 2017 legislative session, the DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health can’t issue patients and caregivers identification cards necessary to obtain medical cannabis until July 1, 2019.
Advisory board chairman and state health officer Dr. Rahul Gupta said those results and public comments are helping drive progress, even with so much time until the law allows patients to access the cannabis as treatment.
“We’ve had a lot of recommendations how there needs to be tweaks to this legislation,” Gupta said. “We’re going through that process of understanding what those tweaks might look like and there may be some ideas that may we may push forward to have those tweaks.”
One ongoing discussion among guest speakers, public commenters and the board itself is whether to allow patients to consume “flowered” or plant-based versions of the drug. Current law prohibits cannabis in its natural, flower form. The advisory board could only make a recommendation to include that form in future, updated legislation.
“That’s why this discussion is happening — if the board recommends [this addition of natural, flowered cannabis being used in treatments], then it goes back to the Legislature. So, yes, that is very important and a very pivotal aspect,” Gupta said. “We are so happy that everybody is engaged in that and we’re having a very deliberative process that is evidence-based and data-driven.”
Gupta also said the newly created Office of Medical Cannabis hopes to hire a director before the advisory board’s next meeting, which is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. Feb. 6, in Charleston.
A public comment period for proposed emergency rules to the legislation will end on Jan. 12, at midnight, just days after state lawmakers begin their annual 60-day regular session.
Gupta acknowledges that the coming session might affect the board’s course of action.
“We have a session that’s upcoming and the Legislature could go back and decide to change things around a little bit. So, there’s a level of uncertainty,” Gupta said. “But every day we are working on this. Not a single day goes by, since the passage of the bill, that we have not worked on moving this program forward.”
