Kentucky’s chief medical marijuana regulator has said that he anticipates the shelves of dispensaries to be ready with product for patient sale by next month.
Cannon Armstrong is the executive director of Kentucky’s Office of Medical Cannabis.
If everything goes as planned for them, he said, “I think they’ll be able to have medical marijuana that is ready to be harvested and put on the shelves, you know by October” – a statement he made to Spectrum News. We’re getting closer to the point that these patients can receive medication earlier than expected.
Armstrong said that it is likely the dispensary The Post in Beaver Dam will make its first sale.
I think the first products will be out in a few weeks, based on what’s happened so far,” he stated. Someone may be able to move up their schedule and get the product out before then, or they may purchase it from that state and distribute it in another part of the state.
Armstrong reported that OMC had approved the certification of more than 19, 000 patients as at this time.
He said the initial price of medical cannabis will be high because supplies will be scarce.
On April 1, Gov. Andy Beshear said (D) that Kentucky medical marijuana patients would have access to it by 2025.
He said, “The medical cannabis program is progressing,” at that time at a briefing for the press.
Most of our dispensaries are now listed with their address [and] They’ve decided where they want to go, but [for] “Some of the dispensaries that must be inspected, have products on site,” said he. “I do think they will be operational before the end the year.”
These remarks came about one month after Governor Bevin announced that Kentucky’s first dispensary for medical marijuana had been officially approved. The governor called this “another milestone in the effort to make sure Kentuckians who suffer from severe medical conditions can access the medicine they require and deserve.”
In his previous remarks, he had cited an “earlier milestone” of the future medical marijuana program for Kentucky. A licensed grower produced “the first ever medical cannabis inventory (in Kentucky’s history).
Beshear’s Office has stated that the other licensees of cannabis, such as processors and labs for testing, should be operational in the near future.
In July, Beshear sent a letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to reject congressional spending bill provisions that would prevent the Justice Department from rescheduling marijuana.
He said that “you supported” the proposal in his letter to the President to shift cannabis from Schedule I into Schedule III, under the Controlled Substances Act.
This process must be allowed to run its course. Americans need leaders who will not change their goals midway through the game, Beshear added. He noted that Beshear had been one of the thousands to have submitted comments publicly in support of reforms initiated by the Biden Administration, which “demonstrated broad public interest” in rescheduling.
I joined this effort to help people. “Rescheduling will provide the suffering patients with the relief they require,” said the Governor. “It would ensure communities are safer—because legal medical products reduce the illicit market. The new research would be a valuable contribution to the health of communities.
Beshear said he also spoke of a letter he wrote to the DEA, which he had signed last year. The letter urged a rescheduling because “the jury has no longer been out about marijuana.” “It has medical benefits.”
The governor of the state recently acknowledged that it has taken “longer than we’d have liked” for the medical marijuana industry to take off since 2023, when he passed the law.
In recognition of that 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 order protecting patients who get medical marijuana out of Kentucky, which he also signed “will remain in effect.”
Beshear announced separately in May that the State has launched an online directory which allows people to see what medical cannabis dispensaries are opening nearby.
In his remarks, he said the state had been working “to deliver access to patients as soon as possible,” which included expediting the license process. The governor in January also ceremonially awarded the commonwealth’s first medical marijuana cards.
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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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