Medical Marijuana in the Mountain State
LORI KERSEY
As of November 2020 , marijuana was legalized for medicinal use in 36 U . S . states and completely legal in 15 . When West Virginia ’ s medical cannabis program begins later this year , patients with certain medical conditions will have a new treatment option , and state officials say the added jobs will also boost the Mountain State ’ s economy .
Under West Virginia ’ s medical cannabis program , people suffering with cancer , Parkinson ’ s disease , post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ) and other serious medical conditions will be allowed to purchase medical marijuana in certain forms at dispensaries across the state . After a two-year delay , the program hopes to have products available to patients by late spring .
The West Virginia Legislature legalized medical cannabis in 2017 . Officials had hoped to start the program by 2019 , but a banking issue halted progress . Because marijuana is still a Schedule 1 drug according to the federal government , the state ’ s bank refused to accept money from a fund set up to hold and distribute moneys received from taxes and fees associated with the program . To resolve the issue , lawmakers passed new legislation in 2019 allowing credit unions and other banking entities to accept state money .
“ Element Federal Credit Union was selected as the banking vendor in summer 2019 ,” says Jason Frame , director of the Office of Medical Cannabis ( OMC ) under the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau for Public Health . “ This allowed the OMC to move forward with the permitting of the industry in fall 2019 .” Patients who are interested in medical marijuana will first visit a physician who has registered with the OMC and undergone training . Participating physicians won ’ t prescribe marijuana , only certify that the patient has an applicable serious medical condition such as cancer , multiple sclerosis , damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord or Huntington ’ s disease , according to Frame .
“ If the physician certifies the patient as suffering from an applicable serious medical condition , the patient can then apply for a medical cannabis card ,” says Frame . “ There is no limit on the number of cards that may be issued by the OMC .” The marijuana will be sold in several non-leaf or plant forms , including pills , oils , gels , creams , ointments , tinctures , liquids , dermal patches and those medically appropriate for administration by vaporization or nebulization , according to state law .
However , a lot is still unknown about marijuana and how it will be regulated , including its long-term effects on users and the legal ramifications of prescribing it . Because the federal government still considers marijuana illegal , little formal research in the U . S . has been done on its effectiveness as a medicine .
“ Much of the current research comes from places such as Israel ,” says Frame . “ This may change as medical cannabis legalization continues to expand at the state level .”
One of the most common uses of medical marijuana in the U . S . currently is pain management , and some local advocates of the program say it could help the state curtail its opioid overdose problem . West Virginia has long led the nation in the rate of overdose deaths . In 2018 , the Mountain State had a rate of 42.4 overdoses deaths per 100,000 people , the highest in the country , according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse .
Rudy Malayil , M . D ., a Huntington pain specialist and member of West Virginia ’ s Medical Cannabis Advisory Board , says there are a multitude of ways to treat pain without using opioids and that offering patients another option for managing their pain could be a good start in minimizing opioid overdoses .
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , a fatal overdose from marijuana is very unlikely , and while it is far less addictive than opioids , 1 in 10 people may become addicted .
“ Medical marijuana is less risky than opiates ,” says Malayil . “ Opiates don ’ t have great data to support their use in chronic pain either .”
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE