MORGANTOWN — The Monongalia County Commission said it intends to take a close look at the medical cannabis dispensary regulations passed on May 27 by the Monongalia County Board of Health.
Commissioners Tom Bloom and Jeff Arnett said Wednesday that they were caught largely off guard by the vote, which came nearly eight months after the regulations were posted for public comment — the last official action taken on the issue.
It also came less than a week before a new state law giving the commission veto power over health department policies went into effect, also on Wednesday.
A fact not lost on the commissioners.
“I’ve received … numerous calls and concerns about the ordinance that was passed by the health department. Not until this morning did we even receive an official copy of what was passed,” Bloom said.
In October, around the time the proposed regulations were posted for public comment, the commission requested guidance on the issue. It received a 35-page legal opinion from Lewis Glasser PLLC indicating the board of health was overstepping by attempting regulate dispensaries to the degree spelled out in its ordinance.
“We have reviewed the provisions of the West Virginia Code and regulations related to the local county health department, the County Commission, Medical Cannabis and Hemp, and we find little authority for either the local county health department or the County Commission to promulgate the proposed ordinance as drafted,” the opinion states.
The BOH voted unanimously to approve the regulations, which include requirements like an on-site physician, pharmacist, physician assistant or nurse practitioner as well as regulations pertaining to security, product storage and dispensary locations in proximity to things like schools, libraries, parks and other dispensaries.
Moments after voting to approve the document, the BOH voted to put a set of amendments up for public comment. Those amendments remove a preference that dispensaries be free-standing structures and add findings citing crime statistics, the stated functions of health departments/public health and the opinion of the MCHD regarding medical and recreational cannabis use.
Of the 100 dispensary locations already approved by the state, 14 are in Monongalia County — 11 in Morgantown, two in Westover and one in Star City.
Among the questions raised by Bloom is whether the BOH’s regulations will pertain to those business locations.
“Are they saying now that it goes into effect after these 14 have been accepted? Have they made this ordinance retroactive? Are they grandfathered in? There’s nothing in the document,” Bloom said.
The local regulations take effect 30 days after passage, according to the document. Bloom said he would like the commission to act “one way or another” before then.
“We’re going to do our due diligence to see what was done and what we may have to do if we agree or disagree with what they passed,” he said.
Commission President Sean Sikora, who serves as the commission’s representative to the board of health, was not present for Wednesday’s meeting.
The MCHD did not respond when asked if the timing of last week’s vote was prompted by the new state law giving elected officials oversight over health department mandates.
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