CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Eligible West Virginia residents will be able to begin registering for access to medical marijuana through the Office of Medical Cannabis for the first time at 12 p.m. Wednesday, the latest step forward for legalization in the Mountain State.
“We are happy to get this finally rolling out to the patients,” said Jason Frame, director of the Office of Medical Cannabis in the state Department of Health and Human Resources, Bureau for Public Health.
“It’s been a long road and I know patients with serious medical conditions across the state have been waiting awhile for this.”
The online registration portal was at www.medcanwv.org.
Those registering were required to provide patient information, photo identification and a patient certification form from one of more than 30 physicians approved, thus far, to identify patients with serious medical conditions for medical cannabis eligibility.
“If they have already visited one of our registered physicians, at that point (on Wednesday), they can go through that online patient portal and register for their medical cannabis card,” Frame said.
Overall, he said interest appeared to be high, but appointments with doctors may be all prospective patients with serious medical conditions have at this point.
The initial physician list, a list that was expected to continue to grow, was released last week along with the list of successful applicants for 100 available medical cannabis dispensary permits.
“They are fairly well distributed across the state,” Frame said of the dispensary locations that will eventually be open to certified medical marijuana patients.
Permits for marijuana growers and marijuana processors to supply those retail sites were previously issued.
Legislation legalizing marijuana for medical uses in West Virginia, the Medical Cannabis Act, was first signed into law in April 2017 with a take-effect date in July 2019.
Several issues have delayed implementation, including questions about industry banking which will be handled through a credit union as part of additions made to the legislation in 2019 and 2020.
Other state procedures were still being developed.
Under the law, West Virginia residents with serious medical conditions are allowed access to medical cannabis legally for certified medical uses in the form of pills; oils; topical applications including gels; creams or ointments; dry forms deemed medically appropriate for administration by vaporization or nebulization; dry leaves or plants, tinctures; liquids or dermal patches, according to DHHR.
Frame said, even with the steps forward this week, it could still be an unknown number of months before approved patients would be able to legally buy medical marijuana through dispensary sites.
An issued patient card will only be valid in West Virginia. The card offers no legal protections for medical marijuana products purchased in other states.
“Our industry partners are working hard to build out to be able produce products as soon as possible. However, that does take time to build buildings and ultimately to grow products and to process them,” Frame said.
“We’re not quite there yet, but I know industry’s working hard to make that happen as soon as possible.”