CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A new medical cannabis director has been named in West Virginia.
Jason Frame will become the director of the West Virginia Office of Medical Cannabis under the state Department of Health and Human Resources.
Dr. Rahul Gupta, state Health Officer and Commissioner of the state DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health named Frame to the job this week. Gupta will oversee the office.
“We still have a lot of work to do in establishing the process for setting up dispensaries, growers, processors, and laboratories, and I believe Mr. Frame is ready to meet that challenge,” Gupta said in a statement.
This comes after Governor Jim Justice signed the Medical Cannabis Act into law last year. The law allows medical marijuana to be used by West Virginia residents with a serious medical condition. Patient and caregiver cards will be issued in July 2019.
Since the law took effect, the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board has been working to develop a plan to implement it.
Frame said in a statement, “My goal is to lead the state’s medical cannabis program in a responsible and deliberative manner to help ensure health care providers have another option in extending compassionate care for those who are living with a serious illness, especially in situations where medical cannabis may provide much needed relief.”
His previous experience includes working for the DHHR’s Office of Environmental Health Services for the last five years. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Charleston.
Frame will be officially introduced at the upcoming Medical Cannabis Advisory Board meeting set for Tuesday, Feb. 6 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the University of Charleston’s Ballroom.