West Virginia lags behind other states on cannabis policy

West Virginia remains one of the 19 states that have yet to even decriminalize cannabis possession. Meanwhile, its neighboring state Maryland will begin legal sales for adult consumers on July 1, 2023.

Under current law in West Virginia, a first offense for possession of any amount of cannabis carries a mandatory minimum of 90 days’ imprisonment (with a conditional discharge for up to 15 grams with probation).

These laws are some of the harshest in the nation, and their effect on West Virginians — disproportionately West Virginians of color — is evident. According to the ACLU, West Virginia ranks fourth in the nation for the highest racial disparity in arrests for cannabis possession, with Black people being 7.3 times more likely to be arrested than white people.

Please reach out to your lawmakers and ask them to decriminalize or legalize cannabis!

West Virginia’s medical cannabis program continues to grow

On November 12, 2021, West Virginia’s first medical cannabis dispensary opened its doors in Morgantown. Since then, over 40 dispensaries have opened across the state and 21,000 residents have been approved for medical cannabis cards.

More information about the West Virginia medical cannabis program, including where to find a dispensary, can be found on  the website for the Office of Medical Cannabis.

A timeline of West Virginia's medical cannabis law

On April 19, 2017, Gov. Jim Justice signed West Virginia’s medical cannabis bill, SB 386, making West Virginia the 29th state to pass a medical cannabis law. The bill passed the Senate in a 28-6 vote, and it passed the House in a 76-24 vote. A summary of the law, as amended in 2019 and 2020, is here.

On February 3, 2021, the Office of Medical Cannabis finally began allowing patients to register for the program. The state issued 100 dispensary permits in late January.

At first, the law prohibited patients from obtaining cannabis in its natural, flower form. In 2018, an advisory board recommended allowing whole-plant cannabis, and in 2020, the legislature added “dry leaf or plant form” to the law by passing SB 339.

The rollout of the program was initially delayed because of concerns about who will provide banking services to the state’s medical cannabis program and to medical cannabis businesses. Southern District U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart exacerbated the problem by threatening to prosecute businesses that enter the medical cannabis space.

In an effort to address these banking issues, in 2019, the legislature passed HB 2538, a bill that allowed credit unions to bid for the state’s account and sought to protect state employees from potential prosecution. Gov. Justice signed this bill into law.

In 2019, the legislature also passed SB 1037, a bill that allowed vertical integration of dispensaries and increased the number of dispensaries to 100.

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