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W.Va. Medical Marijuana Program Opens To Physician Registration

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Starting Thursday, May 28, West Virginia will be one step closer to administering medical marijuana to qualifying residents.

For the first time, West Virginia physicians will be permitted to begin the registration process to treat patients within the state who require medical marijuana.

Listen to the story here.

This comes three years after the Medical Cannabis Act was signed into state law, creating the Office of Medical Cannabis. During a two-month period that ended earlier this year, 285 medical marijuana dispensaries, growers, processors and laboratories submitted permits to the state.  

The physician registration process will be exclusively online, according to a Department of Health and Human Resources press release. It will also include a mandatory four-hour education course.

According to the DHHR, the physician registration process does not mean that qualifying West Virginia patients will be able to obtain medical marijuana immediately. But DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch said he estimates the state’s medical cannabis program will be fully operational by Spring 2021. 

Copyright 2020 West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Caitlin Tan is working as Inside Appalachia’s folklife reporter, as part of a Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies grant. The goal of her reporting is to help engage a new generation in Appalachian folklife and culture.