CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State lawmakers have a lot to do when the legislative session begins next month, but one of those tasks will be to make sure Senate Bill 386, the Medical Cannabis Act, is ready to go by 2019.

Members of the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Advisory Board have been working on developing rules for using the drug medicinally, but Delegate Riley Moore said he wants to make sure the law is viable from an economic standpoint.

He said right now the law prohibits a single business from growing, processing and dispensing medical marijuana.

“What I’d like to do is vertically integrate those different aspects of this business,” he said last week.

That’s something he wants to see changed by allowing vertical integration.

“We have to provide them the ability to do all three steps in this process,” Moore said.

West Virginia’s small population makes it hard for businesses to find success in just one of these areas, but Moore said he thinks allowing businesses to engage in all aspects of the industry will overcome obstacles other states have encountered.

He believes there is bi-partisan support for such a move.

“People on both sides of the aisle seem to be supportive of this issue and I’m hopeful we’ll be able to move it forward.”

Moore plans to introduce a bill in the upcoming session.