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Find out about the legal status of medical and recreational marijuana in the state of West Virginia. Is marijuana illegal? Better safe than sorry!
MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN WEST VIRGINIA
Up until 2016, West Virginia remained one of the last states in the country to not have any medical marijuana program whatsoever. This changed when in 2016 a bill to legalize medical marijuana was finally signed by Gov. Jim Justice.
The new bill will allow patients with qualifying conditions access to medical marijuana medicines in the form of oils, pills, topicals, liquids and tinctures. In other words basically anything but flower or edibles. Smoking the plant will not be allowed.
The plan is to start issuing Medical Marijuana Cards no sooner than 2019 so eligible patients will have to wait until then, as at the moment there is also no dispensary or growing system set up just yet.
The qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in West Virginia include:
- Cancer
- Crohn’s disease
- Epilepsy
- HIV/AIDS
- Huntington’s disease
- Intractable seizures
- Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS)
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Neuropathies (chronic nerve pain)
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Severe chronic pain of neuropathic origin
- Sickle cell anemia
- Spinal cord damage
- Terminal illness with a life expectancy of under a year
RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA IN WEST VIRGINIA
The cultivation, sale, and possession of cannabis for recreational purposes are illegal in West Virginia.
Getting caught with any amount of cannabis is illegal in West Virginia and treated as a misdemeanor.
The penalty for this is a minimum jail sentence of 90 days and a maximum of 6 months and a fine of up to $1,000.
However, if it's your first offense and the amount you got caught with is less than 15 grams, you could get off with just probational time.
We are not aware of any further possible law changes in the (near) future in West Virginia regarding medical and/or recreational cannabis.
