Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has signed the legislation allowing physicians to recommend medical cannabis oil for any condition as long as they decide it’s the best course of action for the patient, according to a WVTF report. The law expands the state program from a qualified condition list to a model that allows doctors to do what they believe is best for the patient.
Patients, however, are still waiting for the state to license its first medical cannabis facilities, which the head of the Roanoke Valley Chapter of NORML, Katie Clifton, said would take about two years. Lawmakers approved five medical cannabis facilities last year.
“The applications will be released, then there will be time for the people who are interested to apply for those applications, then you have actually have to build to the facility, which will be a seed to sale facility. You have to grow it, you have to process it, then you have to sell it. So it’s a very large project.” – Clifton to WVTF
The law also allows physicians to provide patients with a certificate they could give law enforcement if they are found in possession of the oil. The state law allows patients to access either CBD or THC-A oil but does not provide for flower products. The expansion was unanimously approved by both chambers of the state legislature.
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