A bill introduced last week in West Virginia would expand the state’s medical cannabis program by allowing healthcare providers to recommend patients for the program based on clinical judgment rather than a fixed list of qualifying conditions, WVNews reports. Under current state law, patients can only be accepted to the program if they have one of 15 specific medical conditions.
According to the bill text, the bill would “grant authority to attending physicians to use his or her professional judgement to certify that a patient’s serious medical condition would benefit from the use of medical cannabis.”
Under current state law, patients can only access medical cannabis if they are diagnosed with:
Cancer HIV or AIDS Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Parkinson’s Disease Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Spinal cord damage with neurological spasticity Epilepsy Neuropathies Huntington’s Disease Crohn’s Disease Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Intractable seizures Sickle Cell Anemia Severe chronic or intractable pain of neuropathic origin Terminal illness with a life expectancy of