WEST virginia legislature
2020 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 4567
By Delegates Higginbotham, Pushkin, Walker, C. Thompson, Hornbuckle, Steele, Hill, Dean, Hamrick and Barrett
[Introduced January 28, 2020; Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources then the Judiciary]
A BILL to amend and reenact §16A-3-2 and §16A-3-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to the use of medical cannabis; allowing medical cannabis to be dispensed as dry flower or plant flower and in edible forms; removing the restriction that medical cannabis not be dispensed in dry leaf or plant form; and removing the prohibition on smoking medical cannabis.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
article 3. medical cannabis program.
§16A-3-2. Lawful use of medical cannabis.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
the use or possession of medical cannabis as set forth in this act chapter
is lawful within this state, subject to the following conditions:
(1) Medical cannabis may only be dispensed to:
(A) A patient who receives a certification from a practitioner and is in possession of a valid identification card issued by the bureau; and
(B) A caregiver who is in possession of a valid identification card issued by the bureau.
(2) Subject to rules
promulgated under this act chapter, medical cannabis may only be
dispensed to a patient or caregiver in the following forms:
(A) Pill;
(B) Oil;
(C) Topical forms, including gels, creams or ointments;
(D) A form medically
appropriate for administration by vaporization or nebulization, excluding
dry leaf or plant form until dry leaf or plant forms become acceptable under
rules adopted by the bureau including dry flower or plant flower;
(E) Tincture;
(F) Liquid; or
(G) Dermal patch; or
(H) Edible forms.
(3) Unless
otherwise provided in rules adopted by the bureau under section two, article
eleven of this chapter, medical cannabis may not be dispensed to a patient or a
caregiver in dry leaf or plant form
(4) (3) An individual may not act as a caregiver
for more than five patients.
(5) (4) A patient may designate up to two
caregivers at any one time.
(6) (5) Medical cannabis that has not been used by
the patient shall be kept in the original package in which it was dispensed.
(7) (6) A patient or caregiver shall possess an
identification card whenever the patient or caregiver is in possession of
medical cannabis.
(8) (7) Products packaged by a grower/processor or
sold by a dispensary shall only be identified by the name of the
grower/processor, the name of the dispensary, the form and species of medical
cannabis, the percentage of tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabinol contained in
the product.
§16A-3-3. Unlawful use of medical cannabis.
(a) Except as provided in §16A-3-2, §16A-7-4, §16A-13-1 et seq. or 16A-14-1 et seq. of this code, the use of medical cannabis is unlawful and shall, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, be deemed a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act under chapter 60A of this code.
(b) It shall be unlawful to:
(1) Smoke medical
cannabis.
(2) Except as
provided under subsection (c), incorporate medical cannabis into edible form or
sell in edible form
(3) (1) Grow medical cannabis unless the
grower/processor has received a permit from the bureau under this act chapter.
(4) (2) Grow or dispense medical cannabis unless
authorized as a health care medical cannabis organization under §16A-13-1et seq. of
this code.
(5) (3) Dispense medical cannabis unless the
dispensary has received a permit from the bureau under this act chapter.
(c) Edible
medical cannabis. — Nothing in this act shall be construed to preclude the
incorporation of medical cannabis into edible form by a patient or a caregiver
in order to aid ingestion of the medical cannabis by the patient
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow medical cannabis to be dispensed as dry flower or plant flower and in edible forms. It also removes the restriction that medical cannabis not be dispensed in dry leaf or plant form. It removes the prohibition on smoking medical cannabis.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.