A bill which will help fix the financial hole in West Virginia’s new medical cannabis program was passed by the House of Delegates on Friday.
The Bill 2538 patches up the void which was created when the cannabis vendors told the state treasurer’s office in 2018 about their unpreparedness to pay for deposit application fees, penalties as well as taxes. The bill which was passed on Friday would allow the banking institutions to offer bids to the state in order to process out funds for the new medical cannabis program which is all set to begin this summer.
The bill passed at the House of Delegates with 89 out of 100 members voting in favour of it and is expected to receive a green signal from the Senate as well.
Though Washington offers a number of safety measures for cannabis, the federal law still continues to consider the drug illegal. This is a reason why only 30 states will be allowed to run businesses based on similar marijuana programs.
As per the bill, employees working to process funds for the program will be offered legal protection.
Notably, the banking or financial fix is one of the numerous pieces of cannabis legislation initiated in 2019 in the state and the only piece to receive positive response.