On April 19, 2017, West Virginia governor Jim Justice signed Senate Bill 386, a bill to amend state code and create the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act (WVMCA).
The WVMCA allowed West Virginia residents with serious health conditions to use medical cannabis in pill, oil, topical, vaporized, and nebulized forms.
Since July 1, 2019, qualifying patients who have obtained a written certification from their doctor have been able to register with the Bureau for Public Health to receive a medical cannabis identification card.
On Tuesday, November 19, 2019, The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Bureau for Public Health announced that its Office of Medical Cannabis (OMC) would begin accepting applications for medical cannabis growers, processors, dispensaries, and laboratories at 3:00 p.m. on December 19.
The announcement is the first step in the process of distributing permits for industry applicants.
“This is a key step in the process to make medical cannabis available to West Virginians with serious medical conditions,” says OMC director, Jason Frame. “We and many others continue to work toward a goal of providing eligible West Virginia residents the ability to procure quality-tested medical cannabis.”
Interested parties will have 60 days to apply before the application period ends at 3:00 p.m. on February 19, 2020, after which no additional applications will be accepted.
With no paper option to be available, the OMC will provide a link to the web-based application at www.medcanwv.org on December 19.
