Relating to certification of a patient’s eligibility for medical cannabis

HB 5092 Text

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House Bill 5092 History

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Key:
Green
= existing Code.
Red
= new code to be enacted

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2026
REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
House Bill 5092
By Delegates Pushkin, Lewis, and Garcia
[Introduced February 03, 2026; referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources then the Judiciary]
A BILL to amend and reenact §16A-2-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to certification of a patient's eligibility for medical cannabis; amending a definition; and revising eligibility qualifications for patients to receive medical cannabis.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

Article 2. definitions.

§16A-2-1. Definitions.

(a) The following words and phrases when used in this chapter shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) "Act" means the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act and the provisions contained in §60A-1-101
et seq
. of this code.
(2) "Advisory board" means the advisory board established under §16A-11-1
et seq
. of this code.
(3) "Bureau" means the Bureau for Public Health within the Department of Health.
(4) "Caregiver" means the individual designated by a patient or, if the patient is under 18 years of age, an individual authorized under §16A-5-1
et seq
. of this code, to deliver medical cannabis.
(5) "Certified medical use" means the acquisition, possession, use, or transportation of medical cannabis by a patient, or the acquisition, possession, delivery, transportation, or administration of medical cannabis by a caregiver, for use as part of the treatment of the patient's serious medical condition, as authorized in a certification under this act, including enabling the patient to tolerate treatment for the serious medical condition.
(6) "Change in control" means the acquisition by a person or group of persons acting in concert of a controlling interest in an applicant or permittee either all at one time or over the span of a 12-consecutive-month period.
(7) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health.
(8) "Continuing care" means treating a patient, in the course of which the practitioner has completed a full assessment of the patient's medical history and current medical condition, including an in-person consultation with the patient, and is able to document and make a medical diagnosis based upon the substantive treatment of the patient.
(9) "Controlling interest" means:
(A) For a publicly traded entity, voting rights that entitle a person to elect or appoint one or more of the members of the board of directors or other governing board or the ownership or beneficial holding of five percent or more of the securities of the publicly traded entity.
(B) For a privately held entity, the ownership of any security in the entity.
(10) "Dispensary" means a person, including a natural person, corporation, partnership, association, trust, or other entity, or any combination thereof, which holds a permit issued by the bureau to dispense medical cannabis. The term does not include a health care medical cannabis organization as defined in §16A-13-1
et seq
. of this code.
(11) "Family or household member" means the same as defined in §48-27-204 of this code.
(12) "Financial backer" means an investor, mortgagee, bondholder, note holder, or other source of equity, capital, or other assets, other than a financial institution.
(13) "Financial institution" means a bank, a national banking association, a bank and trust company, a trust company, a savings and loan association, a building and loan association, a mutual savings bank, a credit union, or a savings bank.
(14) "Form of medical cannabis" means the characteristics of the medical cannabis recommended or limited for a particular patient, including the method of consumption and any particular dosage, strain, variety and quantity, or percentage of medical cannabis or particular active ingredient.
(15) "Fund" means the Medical Cannabis Program Fund established in §16A-9-2 of this code.
(16) "Grower" means a person, including a natural person, corporation, partnership, association, trust, or other entity, or any combination thereof, which holds a permit from the bureau under this act to grow medical cannabis. The term does not include a health care medical cannabis organization as defined in §16-13-1
et seq
. of this code.
(17) "Grower/processor" means either a grower or a processor.
(18) "Identification card" means a document issued under §16A-5-1
et seq
. of this code that authorizes access to medical cannabis under this act.
(19) "Individual dose" means a single measure of medical cannabis.
(20) "Medical cannabis" means cannabis for certified medical use as set forth in this act.
(21) "Medical cannabis organization" means a dispensary, grower, or processor. The term does not include a health care medical cannabis organization as defined in §16A-13-1
et seq
. of this code.
(22) "Patient" means an individual who:
(A) Has a serious medical condition;
(B) Has met the requirements for certification under this act; and
(C) Is a resident of this state.
(23) "Permit" means an authorization issued by the bureau to a medical cannabis organization to conduct activities under this act.
(24) "Physician" or "practitioner" means a doctor of allopathic or osteopathic medicine who is fully licensed pursuant to the provisions of either §30-3-1
et seq
. or §30-14-1
et seq
. of this code to practice medicine and surgery in this state.
(25) "Post-traumatic stress disorder" means a diagnosis made as part of continuing care of a patient by a medical doctor, licensed counselor, or psychologist.
(26) "Prescription drug monitoring program" means the West Virginia Controlled Substances Monitoring Program under §60A-9-101
et seq
. of this code.
(27) "Principal" means an officer, director, or person who directly owns a beneficial interest in or ownership of the securities of an applicant or permittee, a person who has a controlling interest in an applicant or permittee, or who has the ability to elect the majority of the board of directors of an applicant or permittee, or otherwise control an applicant or permittee, other than a financial institution.
(28) "Processor" means a person, including a natural person, corporation, partnership, association, trust, or other entity, or any combination thereof, which holds a permit from the bureau under this act to process medical cannabis. The term does not include a health care medical cannabis organization as defined in §16A-13-1
et seq
. of this code.
(29) "Registry" means the registry established by the bureau for practitioners.
(30) "Serious medical condition" means
any of the following, as has been diagnosed as part of a patient’s continuing care

a medical condition that a medical doctor, in his or her professional judgement, would benefit from the use of cannabis.
(A) Cancer.
(B) Positive status for human immunodeficiency virus or acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
(C) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
(D) Parkinson’s disease.
(E) Multiple sclerosis.
(F) Damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity.
(G) Epilepsy.
(H) Neuropathies.
(I) Huntington’s disease.
(J) Crohn’s disease.
(K) Post-traumatic stress disorder.
(L) Intractable seizures.
(M) Sickle cell anemia.
(N) Severe chronic or intractable pain of neuropathic origin or severe chronic or intractable pain.
(O) Terminally ill.
(31) "Terminally ill" means a medical prognosis of life expectancy of approximately one year or less if the illness runs its normal course

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to grant authority to attending physicians to use his or her professional judgement to certify that a patient's serious medical condition would benefit from the use of medical cannabis.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

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