The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Bureau for Public Health (BPH) today announced a medical cannabis public online survey to gather information from patients who may be interested in obtaining medical cannabis.
“This is a non-scientific, anonymous survey to hear from West Virginia residents who may be considering the use of medical cannabis to treat their serious illness,” said Dr. Rahul Gupta, State Health Officer and Commissioner of DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health. “This evaluation will provide some insight as to the demographics of the potential patient population, where they are currently seeking care, and for what conditions they will be seeking medical cannabis, along with what forms of medical cannabis they may choose to obtain.”
To take the survey online or learn more about the West Virginia medical cannabis program, visit
www.medcanwv.org. The survey contains 13 brief questions and is expected to take 3 to 5 minutes. Results from the survey will be shared with the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Advisory Board in December.
“We want to be clear, this survey is not an effort to register patients or caregivers for the program, but rather is a tool to gauge interest in obtaining medical cannabis,” said Dr. Gupta.
On April 6, 2017, the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act was passed by the West Virginia Legislature and was signed into law by Governor Jim Justice on April 19, 2017. The Act requires a West Virginia Office of Medical Cannabis be established and administered by BPH.
Under the Medical Cannabis Program, patients who are residents of West Virginia and have a serious medical condition as certified by a physician will be able to obtain medical cannabis at approved dispensaries that are in the state and have a validly-issued permit from the BPH. Identification cards necessary to purchase medical cannabis at an approved dispensary will not be available until July 1, 2019.