Kentucky’s First Medical Marijuana Dispensary Will Open In ‘Next Couple Of Weeks,’ Governor Says, Touting Cannabis As Opioid Alternative

Kentucky’s governor says the state is “very, very close” to launching its
medical marijuana program, which he expects to happen “within the next
couple of weeks”—a move he says will help thousands of patients find an
alternative to opioids for pain management.

During a press briefing on Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) was asked by a
reporter to provide a status update on the medical cannabis law. He said
the first dispensary, based in Ohio County, is set have “product on its
shelf” in weeks.

“But we believe it’s going to scale up very quickly from that first
moment,” the governor said.

Beshear went through more granular details about the program’s progress,
touting the fact that 23,757 patients have received their e-certifications
to access cannabis, including 1,756 who qualified to treat symptoms of
cancer and 15,412 with chronic pain who would have “otherwise been taking
opioids, which is one of the reasons that we’ve pushed this program so
hard.”

With respect to marijuana business licensing, the state has so far approved
16 cultivators, 48 dispensaries and six safety compliance facilities.
Officials have additionally certified 506 doctors to issue medical cannabis
recommendations.

“Our Office of Medical Cannabis had staff in three different locations
completing facility inspections,” Beshear added, “so what that means is,
within one year of awarding cultivation licenses, we now have multiple
cultivators with harvested product that are in the testing phase.”

“We are very, very close,” he said.

The governor made much of crossing a 15,000 patient registration milestone
in late October, but that’s evidently grown meaningfully in recent weeks.

The state’s first medical cannabis dispensary was officially approved for
operations in August, which Beshear called “another step forward as we work
to ensure Kentuckians with serious medical conditions have access to the
medicine they need and deserve.”

He previously touted an earlier success in the state’s forthcoming medical
marijuana program, with a licensed cultivator producing “the first medical
cannabis inventory in Kentucky history.”

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.

In the letter to the president, he emphasized that a pending proposal to
move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled
Substances Act (CSA) is something “you supported in your presidential
campaign.”

“That process should be allowed to play out. Americans deserve leadership
that won’t move the goalposts on them in the middle of the game,” Beshear
said, noting that he was among the tens of thousands who submitted public
comments in favor of the reform after it was initiated under the Biden
administration, “demonstrating broad public interest in rescheduling.”

“I joined that effort because this is about helping people. Rescheduling
would provide suffering patients the relief they need,” the governor said.
“It would ensure communities are safer—because legal medical products
reduce the illicit market. It would provide new, meaningful research on
health benefits.”

Beshear also mentioned a letter to DEA he signed onto last year urging
rescheduling, “because the jury is no longer out on marijuana. It has
medical benefits.”

Back on the state level, the governor recently said he acknowledges that
“it’s taken longer than we would have liked” to stand up the industry since
he signed medical marijuana legalization into law in 2023.

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. And
another order he signed providing protections for qualified patients who
obtain medical marijuana outside of Kentucky “will stay in place.”

Beshear separately announced in May that the state has launched a new
online directory that lets people see where medical cannabis dispensaries
will be opening near them.

He emphasized that the state has been working to deliver access to patients
“at the earliest possible date,” and that involved expediting the licensing
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 last 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.

The post Kentucky’s First Medical Marijuana Dispensary Will Open In ‘Next
Couple Of Weeks,’ Governor Says, Touting Cannabis As Opioid Alternative
appeared first on Marijuana Moment.