The last six West Virginians who became sick from drinking raw milk did it the old-fashioned way — they bought their unpasteurized beverages in Pennsylvania where it’s legal. Now the West Virginia House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resource has approved House Bill 4273 to bring the chance to buy raw milk closer to home through “herd sharing.” Invest a little money in a cow or a whole herd of cows producing raw milk, and you get the option to buy some raw milk on the farm. The committee’s action means that HB 4273 goes over to the Committee on Health and Human Services for additional review. West Virginia currently bans all sales of raw milk in the state, including all retail and farm sales. Anyone who owns a dairy cow, however, may drink the raw milk the animal produces. Currently, all forms of cow shares, herd shares, or co-ops with multiple owner schemes to get around the sales ban are illegal in West Virginia. “There is no new evidence to show that raw milk is safe for public health,” Ann Goldberg of the West Virginia Bureau of Public Health told the committee. As drafted, HB 4273 permits the West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture to impose regulatory standards for the care of dairy cows and how the raw milk is produced. It permits families or several individuals to own the same cow or herd.