WV Growers & Processors — The 10 + 10 Permit Universe

Last verified: May 2026

The 10-and-10 Statutory Cap

SB 386 (2017) capped West Virginia’s medical-cannabis production tier at 10 grower permits and 10 processor permits. SB 1037 (2019), which expanded the dispensary cap from 30 to 100, did not raise the grower or processor caps — meaning the production-tier numbers have been constant since 2017. The 10-and-10 cap, applied across a state of ~1.78 million people with ~35,000 active medical-cannabis cardholders and a 100-dispensary potential maximum, produces unusually concentrated grower / processor footprints. By comparison, Pennsylvania’s medical program permits dozens of growers / processors; Maryland’s adult-use program operates at a much larger production scale.

The October 2, 2020 Permit Issuance

The OMC issued the original 10 grower permits and 10 processor permits on October 2, 2020 — about 13 months before the first dispensary sale. Grower permits were geographically distributed across most of the state under OMC scoring criteria that included regional balance. Processor permits went largely to the same operator pool plus V3 WV GP LLC (Maxwelton, Greenbrier County, processor only). The simultaneous issuance produced the operator universe that has run the WV medical-cannabis program ever since.

The 10 Original Grower Permits

The original 10 West Virginia grower permits issued October 2, 2020:

1. Armory Pharmaceutical Inc. — Buckhannon, Upshur County (central WV)
2. Blue Ridge Botanicals Ltd. — (grower-only license)
3. Buckhannon Grow LLC — Buckhannon, Upshur County
4. Columbia Care WV LLC (now part of The Cannabist Company) — Falling Water, Berkeley County (Eastern Panhandle)
5. Harvest Care Medical LLC — Kearneysville, Jefferson County (Eastern Panhandle)
6. Holistic WV Farms I LLC — Beaver, Raleigh County (Southern Coalfields, near Beckley)
7. Mountaineer Holding LLC — Belle, Kanawha County (eastern Charleston)
8. Mountaineer Integrated Care Inc. — Fort Ashby, Mineral County (Eastern Panhandle’s western edge)
9. Tariff Labs LLC — Left Hand, Roane County (central WV)
10. Verano WV LLC — Beaver, Raleigh County (Southern Coalfields, near Beckley)

The geographic distribution favors central and Eastern Panhandle West Virginia and the Southern Coalfields (Raleigh County / Beckley). Mountaineer Holding’s Belle location is the closest to Charleston (the Mountain State’s capital). Trulieve’s 100,000-sq-ft Huntington cultivation is operated under a separate grower license that is part of the broader Trulieve license stack. See WV-based operators page.

The 10 Original Processor Permits

The original 10 processor permits issued in late 2020 went to a substantially overlapping operator set, with V3 WV GP LLC (Maxwelton, Greenbrier County) the principal processor-only license-holder. Vertical-integrated MSOs (Trulieve, Verano, Holistic, Cannabist) and major WV-based operators (Mountaineer Holding, Harvest Care, Armory) hold both grower and processor permits, allowing seed-to-sale operations entirely within their own license stacks under METRC tracking.

Grower Geography by Region

Eastern Panhandle:

• Columbia Care / Cannabist — Falling Water, Berkeley County
• Harvest Care Medical — Kearneysville, Jefferson County
• Mountaineer Integrated Care — Fort Ashby, Mineral County

Southern Coalfields / Beckley region:

• Holistic WV Farms I — Beaver, Raleigh County
• Verano WV — Beaver, Raleigh County

Central / North-Central:

• Armory Pharmaceutical — Buckhannon, Upshur County
• Buckhannon Grow — Buckhannon, Upshur County
• Tariff Labs — Left Hand, Roane County

Charleston metro:

• Mountaineer Holding — Belle, Kanawha County

The Beaver, Raleigh County concentration (two of ten growers in the same Southern Coalfields town) is unusual and reflects Beaver’s combination of available industrial-zoned land, proximity to I-77 (the WV Turnpike), and county economic-development incentives. See Beckley / Bluefield page.

The $50,000 Registration Fee

West Virginia’s grower and processor registration fee of $50,000 (plus $5,000 application fee) is among the highest in any U.S. medical-cannabis state. Combined with the 10-permit cap, the fee structure was designed to ensure that grower / processor licenses went to well-capitalized operators with the financial reserves to weather the long implementation gap. The trade-off was that smaller in-state entrepreneurs were largely excluded.

One Mid-Ohio Valley applicant told the Weirton Daily Times that he had spent $250,000 or more on application costs and consultants before being denied a grower license — illustrating the pre-fee capital barrier even before the $55,000 in regulatory fees. The application process required detailed operating plans, security plans, financing documentation, and consultant-prepared submissions; competing applicants typically engaged law firms, security-consulting firms, and cannabis-industry consultants.

Vertical Integration and the MSO Stack

SB 1037 (2019) authorized vertical integration — a single MSO can hold grower + processor + dispensary licenses. The major MSO stacks:

• Trulieve: grower + processor (Huntington, 100,000 sq ft) + 9 dispensaries
• Verano: grower (Beaver) + processor + 6 dispensaries (Zen Leaf brand)
• Holistic: grower (Beaver) + processor + dispensaries (Liberty brand)
• Cannabist (Columbia Care): grower (Falling Water) + processor + dispensaries
• Curaleaf: dispensaries via Coastal Retail (with grower / processor relationships)
• Harvest Care / Country Grown: grower (Kearneysville) + processor + ~9 dispensaries
• Mountaineer Holding: grower (Belle) + processor + dispensaries (Charleston, Vienna)

The MSO-stack model produces seed-to-sale operations entirely within a single ownership group’s METRC tracking. The trade-off: it consolidates market power among a small number of operators and limits competition between WV growers and WV dispensaries. See dispensary overview page.

The Operational Status — 9 of 10 Each

As of spring 2026, 9 growers and 9 processors are operational of the original 10-and-10 permit issuance. The shortfalls reflect a small number of permits that have been surrendered, transferred, or have not progressed to full operations. The OMC has not, as of May 2026, opened a new round of grower or processor permit applications — the cap remains at 10 each, and the original 2020 permit-holder pool plus a few subsequent transfers constitute the entire WV grower / processor universe. See OMC page.

Implications for the WV Patient Market

The 10-and-10 cap, combined with the no-edibles / no-smokable-flower / no-home-grow product-form limits and the cross-border drag from Maryland (rec since July 2023) and Ohio (rec since August 2024), produces a tightly bounded production tier. WV growers cultivate primarily for "dry leaf for vaporization," vape cartridges, oils, tinctures, topicals, and pills. The 30-day patient supply cap (METRC-enforced) further bounds throughput. Reform expansions — particularly HB 5260 edibles — would meaningfully change processor product mix without requiring grower expansion. See HB 5260 edibles page.