Twice this past week, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice (R) said that he supports any recreational marijuana legalization efforts. “I’m not in favor, but I would support it if people got on board and brought [a bill] to me,” Governor Justice said.

The governor held a virtual town hall to open up questions the public had on various topics, including marijuana legalization. West Virginia approved of medical marijuana back in 2017, but sales have yet to begin almost four years later. The state is still partnering with laboratories to create the best possible product for consumers before rolling out sales. West Virginia currently remains severely affected by the opioid overdose epidemic. Governor Justice isn’t taking any chances on his citizens’ safety.

West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the country. With around 16 percent of its population unemployed, many are struggling to make ends meet. Governor Justice is looking to change that. He wants to remove personal income tax so citizens can keep more of their hard earned money. One way of doing this is to “tax the crap out of” marijuana. Many lawmakers in both the state’s House and Senate agree with the sentiment. 

“If we could bucket the proceeds [from cannabis tax revenue] and use them in a way, just like this personal income tax reduction…in a really beneficial way for all our people,” Governor Justice said at the town hall meeting. 

Continued Concern

However, there is a concern around what marijuana would do to West Virginians especially with the opioid epidemic still present. 

“I’ll just tell it like it is, I’m not educated enough to make a really good assessment as of yet,” the governor said. “But I can tell you just this: I do believe that that is coming, and the wave is coming across all of our states, and as that wave comes, if our House Republicans and Democrats and Senate Republicans and Democrats would get behind that effort from a standpoint of legalization of recreational marijuana and they would be supportive of that, I would too.”

Governor Justice has been discussing the pros and cons of approving recreational marijuana sales within the state with medical professionals. There is reason to believe that regulating cannabis sales can reduce drug-type problems like opioids among other substances. 

Whether the House and the Senate will be able to agree on legislation on recreational marijuana with high sales tax is uncertain. But the pressure from citizens as well as Governor Justice increases the likelihood significantly. Only time will tell where lawmakers will go from here. Many within the state hopes it will follow the nation trend towards increased cannabis access.

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