As Kentucky gears up to launch its medical marijuana program, the governor is sharing tips for patients to find a doctor and get registered to participate.
During a briefing on Tuesday, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) also gave an update on the status of the Commonwealth’s forthcoming program, noting that 760 Kentuckians have so far applied for a medical card through an online portal that launched last week.
The Office of Medical Cannabis (OCM) has 30 days to review applications it receives. It’s unclear when exactly dispensaries will open, but the governor stressed that there’s a “desire by everyone to move the process as quickly as we can to get supply on the shelves.”
“Since taking office, my administration has also been committed to providing access to health care and creating safer communities for Kentucky,” he said. “One of our priorities in this administration was getting medical cannabis done.”
Beshear pointed people interested in becoming registered patients to the OCM website, where they can sort through over 250 authorized practitioners in 68 counties and receive a recommendation if they have a qualifying condition. That recommendation then allows residents to complete the medical cannabis card application.
“We continue to have more [doctors] signing up. We expect this map to grow even further,” he said.
Health practitioners have been able to start assessing patients for recommendations since the beginning of December, and over 3,300 Kentuckians have sought out such consultations in the weeks since.
The governor also noted that OCM “launched a hotline for Kentuckians needing assistance while applying for a card.” And the office will be separately holding monthly webinars to provide information about the program to the public.
“Nearly 5,000 Kentuckians have signed up for the first webinar being held next Wednesday, January 15,” Beshear said.
While there currently aren’t any up-and-running dispensaries available to patients, Beshear further affirmed that an executive order he signed in 2023 will stay in effect in the interim, protecting patients who possess medical cannabis purchased at out-of-state licensed retailers.
After holding two licensing lotteries, Kentucky regulators have so far approved about 50 medical cannabis dispensaries throughout the state.
“For medical marijuana, everything is moving forward,” Beshear said. “The cultivators have been selected. Most of them have selected their final address where they’re going to grow, and are getting that process started. Our labs are certainly getting up and running. Now that we know each of the groups that will run dispensaries, they are finalizing their locations.”
“So it is really moving. What I’m seeing is a desire by everyone to move the process as quickly as we can to get supply on the shelves,” he said. “Until then, the executive order allowing people to travel out of state to purchase legal medical marijuana if they have one of the conditions in the executive order and bring it back in without fear of prosecution will remain in place on the session that’s starting.”
Meanwhile, during the November election, Kentucky saw more than 100 cities and counties approve local ordinances to allow medical cannabis businesses in their jurisdictions. The governor said the election results demonstrate that “the jury is no longer out” on the issue that is clearly supported by voters across partisan and geographical lines.
Separately, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) recently warned Kentucky residents that, if they choose to participate in the state’s medical marijuana program, they will be prohibited from buying or possessing firearms under federal law.
Beshear also said last month that the state could potentially move toward legalizing recreational marijuana as a next step if officials can “prove” that the new medical marijuana program is effectively regulated and protects public safety.
“I think that the way the system is being set up is going to be one that is safe,” he said. “You know, I’m a former attorney general. I wanted to do this in a way to where we regulate it. The office that’s been created has done a really good job.”
As far as his personal views are concerned, the governor said in 2021 that he supported a bill that would end marijuana criminalization altogether.
Beshear also signed a bill last year that moved the medical cannabis licensing timetable ahead six months to allow the market to launch earlier. And regulators received about 5,000 applications for medical marijuana business licenses since opening up a two-month window that ended in October.
All told, Kentucky took in nearly $28 million in non-refundable application fees during that two-month period.
In June, the governor also announced that the state Board of Medical Licensure and Board of Nursing would simultaneously start issuing permits for doctors and nurses to issue medical cannabis recommendations to patients beginning in July.
Beshear separately participated in a historic roundtable discussion at the White House in March alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and pardon recipients who received clemency under President Joe Biden’s pardon proclamations.
After Biden issued his first pardon proclamation in 2022, Beshear said he was “actively considering” possible marijuana clemency actions the state could take and encouraged people to petition for relief in the interim.
In July, Beshear filed a federal comment in support of the Biden administration’s marijuana rescheduling proposal, saying the reform will have “substantial and meaningful impacts” on patients, communities, businesses and research.
The governor has separately urged lawmakers to expand the medical marijuana program, announcing last year that two independent advisory groups he appointed unanimously voted to recommend the addition of more than a dozen new conditions to qualify patients for medical cannabis.
—
Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—
Meanwhile, the state legislature delivered a budget bill to the governor in 2023 that includes a provision restricting funding for the medical cannabis regulatory body overseeing the state program until its advisory board determines there’s a “propensity” of research supporting the therapeutic “efficacy” of cannabis.
Last year, Kentucky lawmakers filed marijuana legislation with a notable bill number: HB 420. If passed, it would have legalized and regulated cannabis for adults 21 and older, though it did not advance in the state’s Republican-controlled legislature this session.
A more limited legalization measure, HB 72, was also introduced by Rep. Nima Kulkarni (D). It would end all penalties for simple possession and use of marijuana by adults 21 and older and also allow adults to grow a small number of cannabis plants at home. Commercial sales, however, would remain prohibited. It too died, however.
In 2023, Kulkarni introduced a measure that would have let voters decide whether to legalize use, possession and home cultivation. The lawmaker previously introduced a similar noncommercial legalization proposal for the 2022 legislative session.
Scientists Explore How Marijuana Affects Enjoyment Of Music Through New Study At Cannabis Lounge
Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.
As Kentucky gears up to launch its medical marijuana program, the governor is sharing tips for patients to find a doctor and get registered to participate. During a briefing on Tuesday, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) also gave an update on the status of the Commonwealth’s forthcoming program, noting that 760 Kentuckians have so far applied Read More
