RECOMMENDING CANNABIS IN WEST VIRGINIA

West Virginia’s medical cannabis program was established through the Medical Cannabis Act, passed in 2017. The Office of Medical Cannabis oversees the program.  Patients and their caregivers must be registered with the program to benefit from the rights and protections granted under these statutes. 

 

To participate in the Medical Cannabis Program, a physician must:

  • Submit an online application to the Bureau for Public Health, Office of Medical Cannabis.

  • Demonstrate by training or expertise that he or she is qualified to treat the applicable serious medical conditions.

  • Successfully complete the required four-hour course established by the Bureau.

  • Hold a valid, unexpired, unrevoked, unsuspended West Virginia license to practice medicine.​

​The Office of Medical Cannabis is now accepting physician registrations. Registration is completed online through the link below; no paper option is available. To apply or update registration, click here --- Physician Registration

Physicians interested in becoming a registered physician with the Office of Medical Cannabis (OMC) must complete a four-hour training course provided by TheAnswerPage before registering.  The medical cannabis educational program is tailored specifically to the State of West Virginia and awards physicians with 5 CME/CE credits.​​ To register for the course -- TheAnswerPage

 West Virginia patients with one of the following medical conditions are eligible for the medical cannabis program:

  • Cancer
  • Position status for human immunodeficiency virus or acquired immune deficiency syndrome
  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity
  • Epilepsy
  • Neuropathies
  • Huntington’s disease
  • Crohn’s disease
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder
  • Intractable seizures
  • Sickle cell anemia
  • Severe chronic or intractable pain of neuropathic origin or severe chronic or intractable pain;or
  • Terminal illness that is defined as a medical prognosis of life expectancy of approximately one year or less if the illness runs its normal course

Pursuant to W. Va. Code R. §64-110-10, the following forms of medical cannabis are currently lawful in West Virginia: pill; oil; topical forms including gels, creams, or ointments; a form medically appropriate for administration by vaporization or nebulization, tincture, liquid; dermal patch; and dry leaf or plant form. To request that an additional form of medical cannabis be lawful in West Virginia, please complete this application in its entirety.

Same form to recertify. 

Medical professionals have a legal right to recommend cannabis as a treatment in any state, as protected by the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act (Title III section 301) which became law on December 2, 2022, and the First Amendment (established by a 2004 United States Supreme Court decision to uphold earlier federal court rulings that doctors, and their patients have a fundamental Constitutional right to freely discuss treatment options).

DOWNLOAD MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, MEDICAL CANNABIS & THE LAW 

 

State-by-state compassionate use programs are not the ultimate goal for medical cannabis patients; they are a means to aid patients in finding safe cannabis products until federal laws change. Americans for Safe Access is working to create a national program that would include prescriptions, standardized products, and a pathway to insurance coverage. Learn more about ASA Campaigns.

*UPDATE: FEDERAL CANNABIS LAWS HAVE CHANGED AS OF APRIL 28, 2026: Learn more here.

More resources for medical professionals are available here.

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