The West Virginia Department of Health and Human
Resources, Bureau for Public Health, Office of Medical Cannabis (OMC) today
announced Metrc as the new state Seed to Sale system provider.
“This is an important step to make certain
medical cannabis is available only to West Virginians with serious medical
conditions and to prevent diversion of products in West Virginia,” said Jason
Frame, Director of the OMC. “While the COVID-19 pandemic has put many
industries across the country on hold, we’re proud to say that it has not
stopped West Virginia from meeting its deadlines and laying the groundwork for
a safe, regulated medical cannabis market.”
A main focus for the state’s
new track-and-trace program will be helping OMC regulators ensure no illicit
cannabis products are sold in the medical cannabis market, and also that no
legal medical cannabis products are sold unlawfully. Because Metrc’s system
tracks every legal product back to the cannabis plant, OMC regulators can
easily identify if an illicit product is introduced into the supply chain.
Similarly, the disposal process for any legal product is documented in Metrc’s
system, allowing OMC regulators to see if product is being improperly removed
for unlawful sales.
The OMC continues with to move forward with the
scoring of processor and dispensary applications. Those decisions will be made
as soon as possible. Additionally, OMC will begin the process of issuing
patient cards in spring 2021.
“We continue to work toward a goal of providing
eligible West Virginia residents the ability to procure quality-tested medical
cannabis, while also preventing those products from being obtained by
unauthorized individuals,” added Frame.