A bill filed today in the West Virginia House of Delegates would change how patients qualify for medical marijuana by shifting the decision from a rigid list of conditions to the professional judgment of a physician.
House Bill 5092 was introduced today by Delegate Mike Pushkin (D), Delegate Hollis Lewis (D) and Delegate Rick Garcia (D) and has been referred to the House Health and Human Resources Committee for consideration.
Under current law, patients must be diagnosed with one of several specifically listed medical conditions in order to receive a medical marijuana certification. Those conditions include cancer, HIV, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, PTSD, terminal illness and several others explicitly written into statute.
HB 5092 would remove that fixed list entirely.
Instead, the bill defines a “serious medical condition” as any condition that, in the professional judgment of a medical doctor, would benefit from the use of medical cannabis. The legislation explicitly states that the purpose of the change is to grant attending physicians the authority to use their professional judgment when certifying patients.
If approved, the change would give doctors far greater discretion in determining whether marijuana is appropriate for a patient’s treatment, rather than requiring patients to fit into one of the state’s preapproved categories.
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