FRANKFORT, Ky. (WXIX) – Northern Kentuckians now know where they can buy medical cannabis in 2025.
Kentucky held a public lottery Monday where the first round of medical cannabis dispensary licenses was announced.
After signing House Bill 829 in April, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and the Office of Medical Cannabis have been working to license medical cannabis businesses ahead of the new year.
Officials said they received nearly 5,000 applications for all license categories.
More than 4,000 of those applications were for dispensaries. The rest were for cultivation and processor licenses.
In October, Gov. Beshear selected 26 awardees for those licenses.
On Monday, the focus shifted to where people will be able to purchase medical marijuana.
Northern Kentucky was one of the nine licensing regions in Monday’s lottery. According to Sam Flynn with the Office of Medical Cannabis, 10% of the total number of applicants came from Northern Kentucky.
Each region is awarded four licenses.
In Northern Kentucky, a license was awarded to Nicole Tirella in Campbell County as well as Bluegrass Cannacare LLC in Boone County. Two businesses in Kenton County were also selected: Yellow Flowers LLC and Green Grass Cannabis LLC.
Flynn says if two businesses were picked in the same county, the second business that was drawn would have to relocate to another county in that region.
“That will ensure that there is that geographical spread and access point throughout that region,” Flynn explained.
Beshear did say as of now, they will only be giving out 48 dispensary licenses to not crash the market, noting they can always expand in the future if the need is there.
In terms of when these businesses will open their doors, the governor says it really depends on the businesses themselves and how quickly they can get up and running but again only authorized cardholders will be able to access these medical dispensaries and residents will have to wait till after Jan. 1, 2025, to start applying for those cards.
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