Legalize Cannabis
What WV Can’t Wait For
To bring humane relief to those dealing with cancer, PTSD, epilepsy, addiction, pain, and other conditions; to help small farmers and entrepreneurs–and to boost our budget–we will legalize cannabis in West Virginia.
Our Plan
Licenses for the growing and selling of cannabis will favor local West Virginians and small farms, over out-of-state companies and factory farms.
- Create a new Cannabis Secretary with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture to support new Cannabis Growing Regulatory Protocols that favor small growers, and make sure that all licensing, testing, and other regulations are written to favor local growers, producers, and sellers.
- Reduce the presence of a black market by making barriers to entry low, and creating clear, easy-to-follow regulations for the sale of cannabis at shops, cannabis bars, and cannabis-friendly establishments, and incentivizing large growers to follow licensing procedures.
- To reduce barriers to entry for small growers–and to provide low-cost options for patients requiring cannabis for pain relief–make it so West Virginians can cultivate up to 36 plants per adult for medical use, recreation, or hemp production, without a permit. If the product is brought to market, it will then be tested for purity and subsequently taxed.
- Explore all options for ensuring that the wealth generated by the cannabis industry stays with the people of West Virginia, including the possibility of a state-run cannabis commission that could manage wholesaling and/or retailing of cannabis.
- Remove cannabis offenders from prison and expunge the records of all cannabis offenders. Reallocate funds currently spent on enforcement and prosecution of non-violent cannabis offenses to assist those released from incarceration with vital services related to housing, education, and employment.
- Ensure that gun owners do not lose their rights due to producing or using cannabis.
- Make certain that people who have been disproportionately punished for cannabis cultivation, distribution and use–especially low-income and Black West Virginians–receive access and incentives to participate in this industry in proportion to the burden those communities have carried.
- Create a tax structure that allows patients with valid WV Medical Cannabis Patient Identification Cards to purchase products at legal recreational cannabis dispensaries tax-free.
- Discourage cannabis drug tests, either as requirements for hiring, or as requirements for qualifying for benefits.
No one politician or slate of candidates can win this plan alone. We need you.
If you have an idea for how to make this plan stronger, or if you would like to lend a hand to win it, contact our co-chair Stephen Smith at stephen@wvcantwait.com.