Kentucky Governor says medical marijuana will be readily available to patients by year-end. He expects growers to “get the seeds in the ground very soon.”
In a press conference following his “Team Kentucky update”, Governor. Andy Beshear’s (D) answer to the question of whether patients who need medical marijuana will be forced to wait until at least 2026 for products and dispensaries.
The governor replied, “I certainly hope so.” “On medical marijuana, we’re getting really close—this fall and this winter, I think we are very close to doing our site visits to both growers and potentially even the first processor.”
“My sense is that it’s probably the processors—with the amount of equipment and the size of the investment there—that are going to drive that,” he said. “But soon, the first group of growers is going to plant seed.”
Beshear acknowledged that “it has taken us longer than we had hoped” to build up the medical marijuana industry, since 2023 when he passed legislation legalizing it.
The law outlined the way it was to be done.
The governor noted that, in recognition of the delayed implementation, he recently signed an executive order to waive renewal fees for patients who get their cards this year so that they don’t get charged again before retailers open. The governor’s order protecting patients that obtain medical marijuana in Kentucky from other states “will remain in place”.
We’re opening these various parts all at once, so we want to make sure this doesn’t delay us. So almost all our dispensaries [that received licenses] They now have their last counties. “I think that we’ll have them all with their final counties in about a week.”
Beshear announced separately this month that the State has launched an online directory which allows people to see what medical cannabis dispensaries are opening in their area.
The governor said that the state was working hard to provide access “as soon as possible” to its patients, and this included expediting licensing. In January, the governor also presented ceremonially to patients of Massachusetts’ first medical marijuana card.
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Meanwhile, the governor sent a letter to Kentucky’s congressional delegation in January, “urging them to take decisive action to protect the constitutional rights of our law abiding medical cannabis patients” by repealing the federal ban on gun possession by people who use marijuana.
That came after bipartisan Kentucky senators filed legislation that similarly called on the state’s federal representatives to take corrective action, which Beshear said he supports but would like to see even more sweeping change on the federal level.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) warned Kentucky residents late last year 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.
As far as the implementation of the state’s medical cannabis law goes, Beshear said in his State of the Commonwealth address in January that patients will have access to cannabis sometime “this year.” He also later shared tips for patients to find a doctor and get registered to participate in the cannabis program.
Health practitioners have been able to start assessing patients for recommendations since the beginning of December.
While there currently aren’t any up-and-running dispensaries available to patients, Beshear has 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.
During last year’s November election, Kentucky also 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.
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Mike Latimer is the photographer.
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