It may be two years before medical marijuana is available in West Virginia, but the wheels are in motion. Following legalization by the legislature and Governor, a 13-member Medical Cannabis Advisory Board has now been selected. It will study what has worked in other states.
“We’re not interested in reinventing the wheel. What we want to do is learn from the good and the bad, as well as obviously the things that we don’t want to do from other states. And then focus on things that have worked in other states,” said Dr. Rahul Gupta, Chairman of the Advisory Committee.
The board will look at who can produce medical cannabis and how its distributed to patients. The current law does not allow smokable or edible medical marijuana, but that could change.
“There will be amendments made to it next year, I’m sure. Whether or not we’re able to adopt those amendments is another story. But I think like any legislation, there’s always going to the need for some tweaking around the edges.” said Del. Mike Pushkin, (D) Kanawha.
The advisory board will have one patient advocate. Rusty Williams is a cancer survivor.
“I would leave chemo and I would be so nauseous, that everything would be spinning so violently I couldn’t open my eyes. And with 30-seconds of one hit of cannabis, that would right itself and I was able to function. I was able to eat. It truly saved my life,” said Russell Williams, WV Medical Cannabis Advisory Board.
The board plans meetings across the state, and open to the public.
“As of now medical marijuana should be available in the Mountain State by July 1st of 2019. But lawmakers say if policies and procedures are in place well ahead of then, the date could be moved up,” said Mark Curtis, 13 News Chief Political Reporter.
credit:tristateupdate.com
