CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – A bill to make marijuana legal in West Virginia for recreational use was introduced in the House of Delegates Thursday.
If passed, users 21 and older could legally have one ounce or less of cannabis. But, the law also allows counties to hold individual elections on whether to allow the manufacture and sale of cannabis products.
Delegate Evan Hansen (D-Monongalia) says its a freedom issue and that the state needs to diversify its revenue sources.
“Unfortunately, we’re behind our neighboring states,” said Hansen. “If we had been ahead of this issue, we would have raised significantly more revenue. But even though other states have already acted, we can still catch up.”
Medical marijuana is already legal in the Mountain State, but Senator Mike Stuart, who’s running for West Virginia Attorney General, said recreational cannabis isn’t something the state should even be considering.
“And I carry a wallet in my pocket every day filled with the victims of the opiate crisis from when I was U.S. Attorney, and every single person in this wallet started by smoking marijuana,” Stuart said.
The bill is now in the House Health and Human Resources Committee.