“The issue isn’t whether the funds should be used, it’s how they’re used and whether we’re doing it in a responsible, sustainable way.”

By Henry Culvyhouse, Mountain State Spotlight

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In spite of a veto that could have further delayed the spending of $38 million in medical marijuana money collected over the last four years, state Treasurer Larry Pack (R) now says he will release the funds under the original mandate.

Last week, Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) vetoed a bill that would’ve required the release of medical marijuana funds to help the homeless and expedite child abuse and neglect cases in the court system. He said the bill tied up monies for future spending.

In his veto letter, Morrisey wrote, “West Virginia must do better to plan for the future, and it can’t totally pre-commit future revenue streams like this if it’s going to have reserves to invest more in roads, water, sewer, site selection, rail, and future tax cuts.”

Morrisey said he was willing to negotiate with the Legislature on how to spend the money.

“The issue isn’t whether the funds should be used, it’s how they’re used and whether we’re doing it in a responsible, sustainable way,” governor’s office spokesman Lars Dalseide wrote in an email.

But the money was already pre-committed in state code.

Pack’s office said 100 percent of that money  will now go to various offices and programs prescribed by the original law—more than half to the Office of Medical Cannabis and the remainder of the funds split between a grant program for substance abuse treatment and grants for law enforcement. The move ignores the governor’s wishes for future reserves to tackle infrastructure and tax cuts.

In October, a Mountain State Spotlight investigation revealed $34 million had accumulated in an account held by the Treasurer’s Office from the state’s medical marijuana program.

Pack’s office said the money hadn’t been spent because of legal concerns surrounding the drug. Currently, marijuana is listed as a Schedule I narcotic under federal law, meaning it has no medical use and is illegal.

Pack isn’t the first state treasurer to express concern. State Treasurer John Perdue (D) said his office wouldn’t hold the money in 2018, following passage of the Medical Cannabis Act. Riley Moore (R), who beat Perdue in the 2020 race, never released the money, either.

Going into the 2026 Legislative Session, Del. Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, said he read a report about the amassed funds and wanted to change it. He successfully ran a bill that would force the state to spend the money on a commission to to help thousands of child abuse and neglect court cases, and homelessness services.

Had the governor not vetoed the bill, the money would have been designated to those things for one year. Money for substance abuse research, treatment and the abuse and neglect commission would continue in the following years.

The Treasurer’s Office spokeswoman Carrie Smith said due to the complexity of state and federal laws, the office had been working to release the money for months. She said the money has now been released to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health.

This article first appeared on Mountain State Spotlight and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.