Medical marijuana — technically — becomes legal Wednesday in Kentucky.
While Kentucky’s medical cannabis legislation sets Jan. 1 as the start date for the commonwealth’s medical marijuana program, the reality of getting the many moving parts ready to operate will take a bit more time.
Here’s everything to know for when the medical marijuana program begins.
The short answer: No — even though Jan. 1 marks the first day medical marijuana businesses are greenlit to begin operations. Once businesses meet all regulatory requirements, it becomes a sprint grow, process and test products so they’re ready for cardholders to buy.
“It will take a bit of time for safe, legal, tested products to be ready for dispensaries to stock and then sell. Everyone involved is focused on rolling this program out in a way that gets the safest product possible to patients as soon as possible,” said Rachel Roberts, executive director for Kentucky Cannabis Industry Alliance, an organization that advocates for the industry.
While an exact date for when products will be available is not known, Lance Gaither, a spokesperson for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said the Office of Medical Cannabis will work with businesses to help them “meet the regulatory requirements to safely become operational at the soonest possible date.”
Kentucky first established its medical marijuana program in 2023 via Senate Bill 47, which set both the program start date and licensing period for Jan. 1, 2025.
During the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers passed House Bill 829, moving the licensing period forward to start on July 1, 2024, and giving businesses time to prepare for the start date so products could be ready for sale sooner.
“The Office worked with our partners in the General Assembly, and in April, and the Governor signed House Bill 829, which moved up the timeline for licensing medical cannabis businesses by a full 6 months,” Gaither said. “Under the new law, the Office has received and reviewed applications, held license lotteries and issued licenses all so that patients can have access as soon as possible.”
Kentucky distributed a limited number of licenses for each type of medical marijuana business during the initial phase.
See how licenses were distributed for business type below:
The Office of Medical Cannabis picked license winners through three separate lotteries. Sam Flynn, the executive director of the Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis, previously said the office determined the lottery system to be the “most fair and transparent” way to distribute licenses.
The first lottery was hosted in October, when 26 winners of medical marijuana cultivator and processor licenses were chosen. Those businesses will operate in areas across the commonwealth.
Two other lotteries were carried out exclusively for dispensary licenses.
In November, dispensary license winners for the majority of regions in Kentucky were chosen. Winners for the Kentuckiana and Bluegrass Regions, as well as for Jefferson and Fayette Counties specifically, were chosen at the final lottery in December.
A lottery system was not used to award licenses for safety compliance facilities, because the law allows an uncapped number of them.
On top of having a qualifying medical condition, applicants must be a state resident and have no felony record, according to the Office of Medical Cannabis. Potential cardholders also must visit a licensed practitioner and receive a written certification to use medical cannabis before applying.
No. Residents in more than 100 counties and cities around the commonwealth voted in November on whether to allow cannabis businesses to operate in their locales. Each area decided to allow medical marijuana businesses to operate.
See the results of those votes here.
The law does allow local governments to enact ordinances that restrict or prohibit cannabis business operations in their jurisdictions, which the legislative bodies of some municipalities have done. See the full map of places that opted out of the medical marijuana program here.
Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order in 2022 permitting eligible patients to buy and use medical marijuana from legal states outside of Kentucky.
The executive order pardons people suffering from 21 medical conditions as long as their condition is proven in a written certification from their healthcare provider.
Beshear has said he plans to keep the order in place until dispensaries are open.
“The executive order will remain in effect that ultimately protects people from prosecution … and ultimately now have to go to another state to get it like they are right now, until these dispensaries come online, so we’ll leave those protections in place, so individuals are able to get the help they need,” Beshear said.
Reporters Olivia Evans and Marina Johnson contributed to this report. Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at kbaarlaer@gannett.com or @bkillian72 on X.