West Virginia Code 16A-13-2 – Establishment of medical cannabis research program
(a) Program to be established. — The bureau shall establish and develop a research program to study the impact of medical cannabis on the treatment and symptom management of serious medical conditions. The program shall not include a clinical registrant or academic clinical research center under article fourteen of this chapter.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 16A-13-2
- Academic clinical research center: means . See West Virginia Code 16A-14-1
- Bureau: means the Bureau for Public Health within the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. See West Virginia Code 16A-2-1
- Clinical registrant: means an entity that:
(A) . See West Virginia Code 16A-14-1
- 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. See West Virginia Code 16A-2-1
- Fund: means the Medical Cannabis Program Fund established in §. See West Virginia Code 16A-2-1
- Identification card: means a document issued under §. See West Virginia Code 16A-2-1
- Medical cannabis: means cannabis for certified medical use as set forth in this act. See West Virginia Code 16A-2-1
- Medical cannabis organization: means a dispensary, grower, or processor. See West Virginia Code 16A-2-1
- Patient: means an individual who:
(A) Has a serious medical condition. See West Virginia Code 16A-2-1
- practitioner: means a doctor of allopathic or osteopathic medicine who is fully licensed pursuant to the provisions of either §. See West Virginia Code 16A-2-1
- Serious medical condition: means any of the following, as has been diagnosed as part of a patient's continuing care:
(A) Cancer. See West Virginia Code 16A-2-1
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(b) Bureau duties. — The bureau shall:
(1) Review all serious medical conditions which are cited by a practitioner upon the practitioner’s certification that a patient be granted an identification card.
(2) Create a database of all serious medical conditions, including comorbidities, which are cited by practitioners in the certifications of patients. The database shall also include the form of medical cannabis certified to treat each serious medical condition.
(3) When the database contains twenty-five or more patients with the same serious medical condition, petition the United States Food and Drug Administration and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration for approval to study the condition and the impact of medical cannabis on the condition.
(4) Concurrent with the request to the United States Food and Drug Administration and United States Drug Enforcement Administration, publicly announce the formation of a research study to which a vertically integrated health system and a university within this state may submit a request to participate.
(5) Upon approval of a research study by the United States Food and Drug Administration and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, select a vertically integrated health system or systems to conduct the research study and designate the form or forms of medical cannabis which will be used to treat the serious medical condition.
(6) Notify a patient who has been issued an identification card:
(A) that the patient has been selected to participate, at the patient’s option, in a research study to study medical cannabis as a treatment; and
(B) where the patient may secure medical cannabis through a health care medical cannabis organization at no cost to the patient in accordance with subsection (c).
(7) If the United States Food and Drug Administration and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration reject the proposal for the research study, take all reasonable steps to collect and collate data on the serious medical condition and the use of medical cannabis as a treatment for the serious medical condition and consider submitting an additional request to the United States Food and Drug Administration and United States Drug Enforcement Administration for a research study on the same condition.
(c) Costs. — The cost of the medical cannabis which is dispensed to patients in accordance with an approved research study shall be paid for by the fund.
(d) Geographic accessibility. — The bureau shall take into consideration the geographic location of the health care medical cannabis organization when assigning a patient to a health care medical cannabis organization. The bureau shall make an effort to assign a patient to a health care medical cannabis organization that is located within fifty miles of the patient’s residence.
(e) Data. — Data collected by the health care medical cannabis organization shall be provided to the university participating in the research study for analysis.