On April 19, 2017, the Governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, signed bill SB 386 into law after the successful passing from the Senate with a vote of 28-6 on March 29 and through the House with a vote of 76-24 on April 4, which makes West Virginia to be the 29th state to pass a legal marijuana law.

Senator Richard Ojeda and 11 other supporters sponsored SB 386. The new policies will allow seriously ill patients to register to use and safely access medical cannabis.

Whether you support the use of medical marijuana or not, many West Virginia natives are happy with the new policies for many different reasons.

With West Virginia's budget projections for the upcoming year being close to a 300 million dollars deficit, and with an undiversified economy with a dwindling coal industry, the state could use the extra cash.

According to the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, If Marijuana was legalized and taxed in West Virginia at a rate of 25 percent of its wholesale price the state could collect an estimated 45 million dollars annually upon full implementation. If 10 percent of marijuana users who live within a 200 mile radius of West Virginia came to the state to purchase marijuana, the state could collect an estimated 194 million dollars, but the WV House amended the bill and made it much more restrictive before passing it, including by prohibiting marijuana in its natural, flower form, so the amount of money the state will gain is uncertain.

Another positive projection of the marijuana policies may potentially reduce West Virginia's opioid painkiller and heroin epidemic by offering another, less-addictive alternatives.