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PRINCETON – West Virginia residents with qualifying medical conditions will have an opportunity on December 7th in Mercer County to register for access to medicinal cannabis products sold by a company planning to open pharmacies in southern West Virginia.
The West Virginia Office of Medical Cannabis (OMC) will host a public registration event for medical cannabis patients at the Country Inn & Suites along 111 Halls Ridge Road near Princeton on Tuesday, December 7, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to an announcement from the State Ministry for Health and Personnel (DHHR).
Jason Frame, director of the state’s OMC, said he was aware of plans for a cannabis dispensary in the Princeton area.
A billboard near the intersection of US Route 460 and Courthouse Road outside Princeton announced that a company called Greenlight Dispensary is planning to open a branch there. The company’s website also announced future pharmacies in Beckley, Logan, Lewisburg, and Strollings, but did not specify opening times. The company has offices in Arkansas, the Kansas City, Missouri, and Illinois regions. Company employees were unavailable on Thursday.
“There are now two pharmacies in the state, and we expect that number to grow rapidly in 2021 and through 2022,” Frame told dem Bluefield Daily Telegraph.
The pharmacies are in Morgantown and Weston. Pharmacies are not there to sell recreational cannabis products, he said.
“These are very professional facilities that focus on patient medical needs,” said Frame. “Everything that is sold has to be approved by the state. The medical cannabis products themselves go through extensive tests to ensure patient safety. ”
Individuals coming to these prospective pharmacies must be residents of West Virginia and have a valid state card showing they are a medical cannabis patient. Patients are now being registered for their cards so they don’t have to wait for them after pharmacies open, Frame said.
Pharmacies won’t ask for prescriptions, but the role of doctors is to confirm that patients have a need, he said. Precautions are taken to ensure that patients cannot go from one pharmacy to another to stock up on products. The system for monitoring the distribution of medicinal cannabis is called “from seed to sale”.
“We monitor all of these products,” said Frame. “They are monitored from start to finish, including the amount a patient buys, which is also limited. They (pharmacies) all feed into the same electronic system. ”
The OMC outlined the requirements West Virginia residents must meet when filing an application. According to the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act, the following conditions are considered serious illnesses:
• Cancer
• Position status for Human Immunodeficiency Virus or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
• Parkinson’s disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Damage to the nerve tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological evidence of persistent spasticity
• epilepsy
• neuropathies
• Huntington’s disease
• Crohn’s disease
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Persistent seizures
• Sickle cell anemia
• Severe, chronic or persistent pain of neuropathic origin, or severe chronic or persistent pain
• Incurable disease, which is defined as the medical prognosis of a life expectancy of about a year or less with normal disease.
Patients who have already been certified by a resident doctor to be in a serious state of health must bring the following items with them to the public registration on December 7th:
• Completed patient certification form.
• Driver’s license or state ID.
• Proof of residence in West Virginia, e. B. an electricity bill.
• $ 50 patient ID application fee, which must be paid by check or money order.
Patients who have not yet been to a resident doctor must, in addition to the items listed above, bring the following:
• At least one medical documentation showing the diagnosis, such as: B. Medical records, a letter from a doctor, or summaries of doctor visits.
• A valid photo ID.
• Two pieces of evidence of West Virginia residency, e. B. Electricity bills, for state registration.
• Cash, credit, or direct debit to pay the US $ 150 Doctor Evaluation Fee.
Patients with a household income of 200 percent of the state poverty line or less will be able to apply for a $ 50 patient ID waiver at the event, according to OMC officials. When applying for an exemption, applicants must provide their most recent W2, past 30 days pay slips, or proof of eligibility for low income benefits.
Appointments are highly recommended and can be made by calling 304-356-5090, OMC officials said. To date, the OMC has received approximately 4,734 medical cannabis patient applications.
Patient cards are only valid in West Virginia. Registration does not mean that medical cannabis products will be immediately available nationwide as pharmacies remain open across West Virginia.
The West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act allows residents of West Virginia with serious medical conditions to source medicinal cannabis for certified medical use in the following forms: pill; Oil; topical forms including gels, creams, or ointments; a medically acceptable form for administration by vaporization or nebulization; dry leaf or plant form; Tincture; fluid; or skin patches.
In addition to the Princeton event, eligible West Virginians can register for a medical cannabis patient card at www.medcanwv.org. A list of doctors who are registered to certify patients eligible for medicinal cannabis use is available on the website.
– Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com