With the legislative session nearing an end, West Virginia lawmakers crack down on final decisions. With several bills on the table, two involve cannabis. First is SB 231 on medical cannabis reform. Then its HB 3300 on cannabis decriminalization.

SB 231

The bill many had their eyes on was SB 231. In it were changes and updates to the current medical cannabis program. Those changes include:

• Removing the state residency requirements for medical cannabis companies
• Increasing and expanding the number of qualifying medical conditions for patients
• Allowing the Office of Medical Cannabis Commissioner to add any additional conditions to the qualifying list as deemed necessary
• Allows for dry leaf, plant form, and edible options for medical cannabis consumption
  • These cannot be marketed towards children
• Grants a temporary certificate to patients and caregivers to grow, possess, use, or give away medical cannabis

While these changes seem to be small and insignificant, it shows how the Senate is working towards creating a better medical cannabis program. West Virginia legalized medical usage back in 2017 but it took several years to get the program up and running. Now that groundwork is established, tweaks and modifications can be made. Senators want to make the program more inclusive for citizens who will greatly benefit from medical cannabis. 

SB 231 passed a full Senate chamber vote 29-5. It now moves on to the House for discussion and consideration. If the House approves the measure, it will return to the Senate for verification. If the Senate verify the bill, then it goes to Governor Jim Justice’s desk. Recently, Governor Justice said he is open to legalizing recreational cannabis. Even though he personally doesn’t agree with it, he knows that it is inevitable and knows that West Virginians are asking for legalization more and more every day.

HB 3300

The other bill lawmakers took a serious look at was HB 3300. This bill looked at removing personal income tax for the state. One amendment considered early on was legalizing recreational cannabis and “taxing the crap out of it” to get rid of income tax for citizens. Unfortunately, that was tabled early on as lawmakers didn’t want to base laws and amendments on the suspicion of sales and not the actual sales numbers. 

Instead, lawmakers tried to get a cannabis decriminalization into HB 3300 since cannabis is still illegal in the state. Unfortunately the House threw out this amendment too along with HB 3300. The final vote was 46-53, effectively killing the bill before it had a chance to reach the Senate. 

Future

Whether West Virginia legalizes adult-use cannabis soon or not, lawmakers are thinking about the measure. It’s only a matter of time, especially with Governor Justice on board as well.

Make sure to check back for more cannabis and hemp related news.