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Medical cannabis sales could be years away

CHARLESTON (AP) — Despite legislation from 2017 that allowed cannabis to be legal for medical use on July 1 of this year, West Virginia officials say they’re still years away from the first sale. That’s — at least in part — because of a hangup with finding a banking solution to get around federal law. State health officials say they also have to implement permitting and licensing for patients and those who want to start businesses within the industry.

Late last month, the West Virginia Treasurer’s Office released a statement indicating that they were canceling and then reissuing a request for proposals for a depository associated with the medical cannabis program. An initial bid returned five applications, but none of the prospective banking vendors met all of the requirements.

Officials from the Treasurer’s Office say they are now in a blackout period and cannot comment on the bidding process until a banking vendor has been selected.

Delegate Mike Pushkin, a Democrat from Kanawha County who has championed the legalization of cannabis, says the banking solution — which was spurred along through legislation that cleared in May — should push back the timeline another few months.

“It’s not such a big deal. These things happen a lot when we’re bidding out to vendors in state government — that people don’t meet all of the mandatory requirements of that bid. It’s not uncommon,” Pushkin said. “What’s uncommon is that it’s a bid that we’re watching so closely.”

DHHR Says First Medical Cannabis Sale Still Two Years Away

But even if a banking vendor is awarded a contract in the next few months, officials from the state Department of Health and Human Resources say it could still be some time before cannabis is sold to patients.

“So, the Office of Medical Cannabis, or the OMC, continues to have a goal of two years from the time a banking solution is in place for patients with a serious medical condition to be able to obtain medical cannabis,” Office of Medical Cannabis director Jason Frame said.

Frame also points out that July 1 wasn’t a deadline or mandatory “go live” date for medical cannabis in West Virginia, but rather a statutory marker that opened the door for the program. He also said DHHR has its own work to get the program off the ground.

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