Healthcare

This bill requires physicians and osteopathic doctors in West Virginia to complete continuing education credits specifically in nutrition as part of their biennial license renewal process. The law mandates that medical professionals earn a minimum of fifty hours of continuing medical education every two years, with osteopathic physicians required to complete thirty-two hours including nutrition training, and these credits must be approved by relevant medical boards. The bill amends existing state code sections to make nutrition education a mandatory component of the continuing education requirement for license renewal.

This bill allows doctors in West Virginia to legally prescribe, distribute, and market specific forms of psilocybin once the FDA approves it and the DEA reschedules it. It amends state pharmacy laws to remove barriers for FDA-approved crystalline polymorph psilocybin products, aligning state regulations with federal decisions. The law applies only to pharmaceutical compositions of psilocybin that meet federal approval standards, not to raw or unapproved forms of the substance. Healthcare providers and pharmacies would be able to handle these medications under existing prescription drug frameworks once federal requirements are met.

HB 5074 changes how revenue from West Virginia's medical cannabis program is allocated. For fiscal year 2026, it directs $3 million to the Supreme Court for a child protection pilot, $10 million each to West Virginia University and Marshall University for ibogaine research, and $5 million to homelessness services, with remaining funds reverting to general revenue. Starting July 1, 2026, annual allocations will be: 15% to the Medical Cannabis Bureau for administration, 15% to the Department of Agriculture for cannabis testing, and 45% split among the Fight Substance Abuse Fund (20%), university research (10% each to Marshall and WVU), a Child Protection Commission (10%), and law enforcement training programs (40%). These changes apply to ongoing revenue from medical cannabis taxes, not new taxes or fees.

HB 5260 adds "edible" as an allowable form of medical cannabis in West Virginia, with strict requirements for safety and regulation. It requires processors to obtain bureau approval for each edible product, mandates specific shapes (like squares or circles), limits edibles to lozenges or gelatins, and caps THC content at 10mg per serving with a 15% potency variance. The bill prohibits color additives in edibles and requires all medical cannabis dispensing to be reported to the state's controlled substance monitoring database. This directly affects patients using medical cannabis, caregivers, and licensed processors who must comply with these new edible-specific rules.