West Virginia Medical Cannabis Industry Applications Open This Week

West Virginia officials are set to begin accepting applications for medical cannabis cultivators, processors, and dispensaries on Thursday, the Inter-Mountain reports. The announcement comes almost three years after the reforms passed the state Legislature.

Under the law, the number of growers and processors in the state are capped at 10 and the number of dispensaries is limited to 100. Individuals or businesses can hold permits for all three activities but no one entity or individuals can have more than 10 dispensary permits. The application and annual renewal fees for cultivators and processors are $5,000 and $2,500 for dispensaries. Permit fees for growers and processors are $50,000 and $10,000 for dispensaries.

The law went into effect on July 1, but patients aren’t expected to begin applying for the program until 2021. The 2017 law includes cancer treatment, post-traumatic stress disorder, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, neuropathies, Huntington’s disease, Crohn’s disease, seizures, sickle cell anemia, and pain treatment as qualifying conditions for the program.

Jason Frame, director of the West Virginia Office of Medical Cannabis, said the first sales “will be dependent upon the industry’s ability to ready medical cannabis for sale through West Virginia dispensaries,” which his office estimates will happen in 2021.

The state Department of Health and Human Resources is also still awaiting lawmakers to approve key rules that will govern the program, such as facility inspections, the role of county governments, and where the dispensaries will be located. Those rules are expected to be voted on by the Legislature after session reconvenes in January.