FLORENCE, Ky. (WKRC) – Kentucky plans to issue just 48 medical marijuana dispensary licenses for the entire state later this year.
As of early Friday morning, more than 1,000 businesses had applied for the chance to sell medical cannabis.
Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis Director Sam Flynn predicted such a surge when Local 12 interviewed him nearly two weeks ago.
“We’ve seen a significant amount of increase across the regions, of course, more interest in some of the higher population areas, particularly Louisville and Lexington, but also significant interest in other parts of the state as well,” Flynn said.
The jump includes 50 applications for the four slots in the nine-county Northern Kentucky region, which is up from just two earlier in August.
Elizabeth Kirby owns Your CBD Store in Florence and has gotten a group of investors together to try to get a dispensary license. As of Friday, she said the application is 99.9% done.
“I’m sure people were just waiting before they put all that work in to make sure they get the application done correctly according to what the state was requiring,” Kirby said. “I think our chances are about one in 12 right now as I figured it out with four licenses for Northern Kentucky. So, we’re just very hopeful. All of our partners are very positive about it.”
Qualified applicants will be entered into a lottery for the slots that’s scheduled for sometime in early October. Another hurdle for Kirby and others is making sure that they locate their dispensary in a city or county that has approved medical marijuana sales.
Leaders in Kentucky’s counties and communities can either decide to allow it, ban it, or let local voters decide by putting it on the ballot. Florence residents will vote on the issue in November.
“We have a lot of hurdles to cross,” Kirby said. “We have to first get the drawing and then wait another couple of weeks until the election.”
If a business gets a medical marijuana license in the Kentucky lottery and then voters decide against it, those business owners will have the opportunity to move it to a different location.
Kentucky will start issuing medical marijuana cards to patients in early January, when sales are set to begin.
Here are the six conditions covered:
Any type or form of cancerChronic or severe painEpilepsy or other intractable seizure disorderMultiple sclerosis, muscle spasms, or spasticityChronic nausea or cyclical vomiting syndromePTSD
In the meantime, medical dispensaries in Ohio began selling recreational cannabis in early August.Since then, those businesses have sold $32.9 million worth of recreational weed.
Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis Director Sam Flynn predicted such a surge when Local 12 interviewed him nearly two weeks ago. Read More