West Virginia legalizes medical marijuana

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Wednesday signed into law the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act, making the state the 29th to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. 

S.B. 386 permits use of cannabis in pill or topical form but does not allow smoking or consumption of edible products. The law also stipulates that its use is for “serious medical conditions,” providing a lengthy list of such ailments as cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder and neurological conditions.
 
To obtain medical marijuana, a patient would have to get a certificate from the Bureau for Public Health and an identification card to go to a dispensary and have a product filled for a 30-day supply with a prescription. 

The law also requires that dispensaries track prescriptions. Physicians who wish to prescribe it will have to attend a four-hour training course, according to the law, which goes into effect July 1, 2019.