Patients’ request for public hearing rejected; sponsors offer study resolution
For the second consecutive year, Del. Mike Manypenny (D-Grafton) introduced effective medical marijuana legislation in West Virginia. H.B. 4498 would have allowed patients with a wide variety of serious, debilitating conditions, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, and severe pain, nausea, seizures, and spasms, to use medical marijuana if recommended by their doctors.
Sadly, Del. Manypenny’s bill was once again denied a public hearing by the House Health and Human Resources Committee in 2012. Patients certainly deserve to have their cases heard and considered by the legislature, so Del. Manypenny has shifted gears by offering a resolution, HCR 144, for the legislature to study the issue more thoroughly. It’s an election year, so West Virginians will soon have the chance to ask candidates for the state legislature if they will support medical marijuana in 2013.
If you live in West Virginia, please contact your legislators and ask them to support HCR 144. How can any representative object to giving the issue further study? Legislators may feel much more comfortable discussing a study resolution than an actual bill, so this is an important opportunity to further educate legislators and improve our odds of passing a bill in 2013.
If you are supportive and are a medical professional, a seriously ill patient who might benefit from medical marijuana, a law enforcement official, a clergy member, or a member of the legal community, or you know someone else that is, please email msimon@mpp.org to see how you can be of special help. Please be sure to include your address or nine-digit ZIP code so we can help you identify your elected officials.
Learn more about West Virginia’s marijuana laws
West Virginia ranks fourth in the nation (tied with nine other states) for the harshest maximum sentences for possession of an ounce of marijuana, and African Americans in West Virginia are arrested for marijuana possession at nearly seven times the rate of whites. You can learn more about West Virginia’s marijuana laws by reading this short report by Jon Gettman, PhD. Please write to your legislators and ask them to stop arresting people for possessing marijuana, or ask them to end marijuana prohibition entirely.
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