LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky has one more year to set up the infrastructure for operating medical marijuana in the state, and there’s a lot to do.
Facilities, including grow operations and dispensaries, still need to be licensed and then built.
However, at Thursday’s Team Kentucky news conference, Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Kentucky, announced that regulations have been drafted to set the rules from seed to sale.
So far, his administration filed ten proposed regulations.
Details on those regulations can be found here.
“These new rules will provide guidance for how medical cannabis products will be packaged, labeled, transported, advertised and tested,” Gov. Beshear announced.
Heading into the next legislative session, the governor also wants the general assembly to add several qualifying conditions for medical marijuana, which he says will help “437,000 additional Kentuckians.”
He says the Board of Physicians and Advisors, established by law when medical cannabis passed last year, unanimously recommended that 14 more conditions should be added, including Lou Gehrig’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, HIV and AIDS, as well as terminal illness.
Those additional conditions still apply in the governor’s executive order he signed in November of 2022, allowing sick Kentuckians to travel to other states to legally buy medical marijuana without fear of prosecution in the commonwealth.
Bill supporters cautioned Thursday that any effort to expand the number of eligible conditions would run into resistance in both legislative chambers.
“This is our initial step,” Republican Sen. Stephen West, the bill’s lead sponsor, said in an interview. “Some people want to be on step five, and you’ve got to walk before you can run.”
However, since signing that order, outfits claiming to sell medical marijuana cards flooded the market.
FOCUS has been investigating this issue since early last year and Beshear finally addressed the concern, saying there is no need for a medical marijuana card to comply with his executive order.
“We’ve been made aware of reports that there are businesses not licensed or affiliated with the commonwealth that are advertising for medical marijuana cards for a fee,” he said. “Those are not legitimate, most likely fraudulent.”
The governor called on folks with concerns about the cards to contact the state Office of Consumer Protection at the Attorney General’s Office.
He added that regulations regarding licenses to start a medical cannabis business in Kentucky are coming in the weeks and months to follow.
In another step toward implementation, the state has launched a commercial zoning tool meant to help medical marijuana businesses determine if a proposed location is legal. The law prohibits such businesses from being within 1,000 feet of a primary or secondary school or day care and allows local governments to issue additional zoning restrictions.
---------------------------
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.