Medical Marijuana Story Archives - Page 3 of 4 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

House Makes Changes to Medical Marijuana Bill

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.

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.”

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.

Consideration of Medical Marijuana Stalled in House

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.

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.”

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.

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.

Medical Marijuana Bill Bypasses Committee Process in W.Va. House

A senate bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state is being fast-tracked through the West Virginia House of Delegates. Senate Bill 386, which passed out of the state Senate Wednesday night on a 28 to 6 vote, would create the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act, legalizing medical marijuana in West Virginia.

The bill creates a 17-member commission in the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to oversee the program and write rules for legislative approval. 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.

In an evening floor session Thursday, delegates took up the Senate message notifying the House of the passage of the bill.

Delegate Mike Folk, a Republican from Berkeley County, made a motion to have Senate Bill 386 bypass the committee process and be brought immediately to the floor on first reading.

Several delegates spoke in favor of the motion including Republican Charlotte Lane of Kanawha County, who criticized House leadership for being unwilling to run the bill.

“It has become clear to me that my bill and other bills are never going to see the light of day,” she said, “and for those of us who have sick friends who want medical marijuana to ease their suffering, this is our only chance. I don’t know about you, but I spent the afternoon listening to all of my phone messages, and these were from people saying support medical marijuana.”

Earlier in the session, Democrat Isaac Sponaugle of Pendleton County tried to amend another bill to remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs in the state. Schedule I drugs are classified as illegal with no medicinal benefit and include drugs like heroin and cocaine.

Sponaugle explained his amendment had been the first step in the process to make marijuana legal to prescribe in the state, but that motion was defeated in the House, because delegates argued the proposal hadn’t been vetted in the committee process.

But Senate Bill 386, Sponaugle says, has been.

“This bill passed out of the Senate, 28 to 6. It was vetted in the Health committee over there; it was vetted in the Judiciary committee over there,” Sponaugle noted, “This body, several weeks ago, made an amendment to lower Schedule I to Schedule IV. You stuck with your leadership team, and how many of you all got beat up for voting red? You’re not going to get another vote on this if you don’t vote today; I’m just gonna tell ya. It’s going to get buried in these committees, and you’re gonna be on the board voting against medical marijuana twice.”

Del. Joe Ellington, R-Mercer, House Health Committee Chair.

Delegate Joe Ellington chairs the House Health Committee, which would have likely been the first to see the bill in the chamber. He encouraged members to trust him to get the bill on his committee’s agenda.

“I am willing to put it on the committee. I’ll run it,” Ellington said, “I don’t think the Speaker’s going to have any objection to that. I promise I’ll put it on the committee agenda, so you know, it’s up to you if you want to go through the normal process. I’ve heard members from the other side won’t try to discharge bills before talk about how important the process was to go through the committee process. You know, we can decide if we’re gonna be hypocrites or not. I’m willing to put it through the committee process, and then we can go from that.”

House Judiciary Chair John Shott of Mercer County says not giving the bill time in committee would not be doing West Virginians any favors.

“We would have this bill on Second Reading tomorrow if this motion’s passed. Second Reading. It is now almost 7:00 p.m. How long do you have to prepare your amendments for tomorrow? How long do you have to even read this bill tonight and learn what’s in it? It is a complicated issue, and we need some time to do it right,” Shott explained.

Republican Delegate Mike Folk, who made the motion to bypass the committee process, commended the Senate’s work on the legislation.

“The most important thing you need to know about the bill, to allay any fears you might have, is the effective date for that bill is not even until July 2018, most of the stuff; sets up a commission to study so to develop the rules and regulations to address any concerns that anybody might have,” Folk said, “You can feel confident that there will be a structure in place in this bill.”

After an hour of debate, Folk’s motion passed 54 to 40, and the bill was read a first time on the floor. It will be on second reading Friday, and could see a final vote as early as Saturday.

Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Bill

Senators have approved a bill to create a medicinal cannabis program in the state. Senate Bill 386 was approved on a 28 to 6 vote Wednesday night in the chamber.

The bill would create a 17-member medical cannabis commission under the West Virginia Department of Health and human Resources that would largely be responsible for creating the rules of the program.

That commission would send rules back to the Legislature during the 2018 session for approval, allowing the program to actually begin in July of 2018.

Senate Bill 386 includes a list of illnesses for which a doctor could certify that a patient could use marijuana medicinally. The list includes post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, seizures, and anxiety disorders.

Patients with a prescription under the bill would be allowed to grow two plants for their own personal usage.

“Now, I know we could sit here all night long and we can talk about it’s a gateway drug. Like I said, it’s a gateway drug away from opioids and it’s a gateway to a better life for somebody who may only have two months to live,” the bill’s lead sponsor Democratic Sen. Richard Ojeda said during a floor speech before the vote. “This is the one opportunity that we have to do something and this is historic.”

The West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act had 12 sponsors in the Senate, with support from both Democrats and Republicans. The bill now goes to the House of Delegates for its consideration.

Senate Advances Medical Marijuana Bill

A Senate committee has advanced a bill to create a medical marijuana program in West Virginia, despite the committee chairman’s vote against it.

The Senate Health and Human Resources Committee took up Senate Bill 386 Friday morning, the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act.

Sen. Ron Stollings is a doctor in Boone County and supports the medical marijuana legislation.

The bill would allow West Virginia doctors to prescribe medical marijuana for a list of diseases that are set out in the bill. It creates a system for growers to supply the drugs, doctors to apply to be able to prescribe it and gives oversight to a new commission within the state Department of Health and Human Resources.

It does not, however, remove marijuana from the list of schedule one drugs at the state level. That puts it in a classification with drugs like heroin or cocaine and makes it illegal to sell and distribute.

However, 28 state and the District of Columbia have created medical marijuana programs.

“If doctors are given the opportunity to prescribe medicinal marijuana to help patients suffering from many different illness, then why not?” lead sponsor of the bill Sen. Richard Ojeda said Friday.

“Marijuana has never ripped apart a community, but opioids do. OxyContin does every day, but OxyContin is legal to be prescribed.”

Members of the committee amended the bill Friday, requiring that the state Board of Pharmacy receive an annual report about the program, that 10 percent of the licensed growers be veterans, and that 10 percent of the funds made off of the registration fees for growers and doctors be dedicated to education and addiction recovery efforts.

Sen. Robert Karnes also attempted to amend the bill to allow any person with a legal prescription to grow two marijuana plants for their own personal use.

Sen. Robert Karnes during the Senate Committee on Health and Human Resources.

“Saying something like that, okay we’re going to give you permission to grow two plants, it requires oversight of that person,” bill sponsor Sen. Patricia Rucker said in committee. “It requires understanding what they’re doing in their home and we were being very careful to not create a problem for law enforcement.”

“I’m trying to make sure that we’re not just setting up essentially a group of legal drug dealers who can make an enormous sum of money off of people who may actually receive a benefit from this,” Karnes said.

Karnes’s amendment was adopted by the committee, but put to a final vote, Republican Sen. Mike Maroney, who’s also a physician, spoke against the amended bill.

“I personally can’t support the bill as written, although I support the concept to a certain extent,” he said. “I think it’s very broad and I think if you’re going to start something like this you need to be very much less broad initially.”

Maroney said he would support a medical marijuana program in the state and sees the benefits for West Virginia patients, but he wants a more strictly defined program.

“We have a massive problem with opiate addiction,” Stollings said. “The physicians’ hands are being tied by various regulations and I think this does give us another tool in the toolbox.”

On a voice vote in committee the bill seemed to fail, but when Senators were asked to raise their hands to signify their vote, it was approved.

Both the committee’s chair, Tom Takubo who’s also a physician, and vice chair Maroney, voted against it.

The bill now goes to the Senate’s Judiciary Committee for further consideration.

House Democrats Attempt to Evade Committee Process with Marijuana Amendment

Democrats in the House of Delegates Thursday attempted to change the scheduling classification of marijuana so it could be prescribed by doctors.

House Bill 2526 focuses on adding drugs to the state’s scheduling system, a classification of both prescription and illicit drugs. These classifications are referred to as Schedule I, II, IV, and V.

Schedule I drugs are substances seen as having no medicinal purposes and cannot be prescribed by a doctor. These are illegal substances, like heroin or cocaine.

Marijuana is currently a Schedule I substance. Democrats attempted to change that classification to allow doctors to prescribe it in West Virginia.

Democrat Isaac Sponaugle from Pendleton County, a sponsor of the amendment, argued 28 other states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana.

“The people are with this issue,” Sponaugle said, “Sixty-some percent of West Virginians are tired; they want this legislative body to act.”

A handful of Republicans spoke in favor of the amendment, but it ultimately failed 35 to 64.

So far this legislative session, two bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate to legalize medical marijuana in the state. One has bi-partisan support. Neither bills have been heard by any committees.