In West Virginia, a new law includes a provision that requires regulators to encourage minority-owned business owners to apply for growing licenses. (Photo by Heath Korvola/ Digital Vision/Getty Images)

In some states that have legalized marijuana, officials are trying to entice nonwhite citizens to join the cannabis industry with breaks aimed at making up for the toll unequal drug enforcement has taken on Black and brown communities.

So far, the booming industry has overwhelmingly line the pockets of white cannabis sellers.

On April 19, Gov. Jim Justice signed into law Senate Bill 386, which makes West Virginia the 29th state to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

“We’ve done something that’s goodness in my opinion,” Justice said at the time, adding that legalizing the drug could help Mountain State citizens who would have trouble finding relief for severe pain without the new law.

But not everyone thinks legalizing marijuana — even for compassionate medical reasons — is a good idea.

In both West Virginia and Ohio, it’s official: Breaking the law is not against the law — at least when marijuana is involved.

Both states have legislation making use of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, legal for health care purposes. West Virginia’s measure was just signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice. Ohio’s has been in effect for some time, but state officials are still working out the details.

But possession of marijuana in any form is illegal under federal law. That puts our states, in concert with 26 others that have “legalized” medicinal marijuana, in the position of advocating behavior that is criminal by federal statute.

The 2017 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature may be remembered as the year the Mountain State got medical marijuana.

From an idea that had no chance of passage at the beginning of the 60-day legislative session, the medical use of marijuana went from a proposal in the state Senate to a forced vote on the floor of the House of Delegates within the space of a few days.

If signed by Gov. Jim Justice, the measure would make West Virginia the 29th state to legalize medical use of marijuana.

Lawmakers in West Virginia on Thursday passed a bill that would allow patients to use some forms of cannabis for medical needs, state records show.

If signed by Democratic Governor Jim Justice, the measure would make West Virginia the 29th state to allow the medical use of cannabis products including tinctures, extracts, pills and oils, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.

It does not authorize patients to smoke pot or grow their own marijuana, the Marijuana Policy Project said.

Florida

There’s a lot going on in Tallahassee as Sunshine State legislators forge the regulatory framework for Florida’s medical marijuana program.

Senators appear poised to advance legislation (SB 406) to welcome five new cannabis dispensaries to Florida by October. At least one would be minority-owned. Friday’s measure also requires four additional dispensaries within “six months after each instance of the registration of 75,000 qualifying patients with the compassionate use registry.”

That 75,000 figure is dramatically less than the previous threshold of 250,000.

Marijuana advocates in West Virginia are celebrating after the state senate voted to pass a bill that would legalize and regulate the use of medical marijuana in the Mountain State. After surviving two committee assignments, and being amended to allow home cultivation by registered patients, Senate Bill 386, sponsored by Senator Richard Ojeda, passed out of the full Senate by a considerable margin of 28-6.

Lawmakers in about two dozen states have proposed bills this year to ease their marijuana laws despite Attorney General Jeff Sessions' warning that he could crack down on pot, a major change from the Obama administration, which essentially turned a blind eye to the state legislation.

Bills have been introduced in 17 states this year to make recreational pot legal for adults, while five others are considering voter referendums on the issue. Sixteen states have introduced medical marijuana legislation, 10 are considering decriminalizing the drug and three are considering easing their penalties. An effort in Wyoming to decriminalize the drug failed this session.

The West Virginia Senate passed a bill on Wednesday that would permit marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes in West Virginia.

Senate Bill 386, sponsored by Sen. Richard Ojeda, D-Logan, would create the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Commission, a group of lawyers, medical professionals, members of the public, and agricultural officials who would oversee regulation of medical marijuana in the state.

Rusty Williams, of the Nitro area, immediately burst into tears when he saw the bill had passed, 28-6.

“I’ve not felt this good since the day my oncologist said that I was in remission,” he said.