Kentuckians with medical cannabis cards are no longer protected when purchasing products out of state, thanks to a July 1 rule change.
Previously under an executive order issued in 2022, state cardholders could purchase and transport medical marijuana products to Kentucky, within limits. That pardon has been rescinded, and Kentuckians can now only legally purchase medical cannabis within the state.
Sam Flynn, special advisor to Gov. Andy Beshear and former executive director of the Office of Medical Cannabis, said it was always the governor’s plan to rescind the pardon once the state stood up its own agriculture and retail marijuana operations.
“It's only about getting medical cannabis in the hands of those people who are allowed to have it and need to have it, and not into the hands of anyone else,” Flynn said. “That's what we've aimed to do, and I think we've done that fairly successfully.”
As of the end of June, Kentucky has 26,000 active medical cannabis cardholders. The cards are available to those with a qualifying condition, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, cancer and multiple sclerosis.
After a slow lottery and licensing process, private cannabis businesses are starting to bloom in Kentucky, Flynn said.
“We're really moving at quite a great speed and clip,” Flynn said. “We're really seeing the dispensaries, processors and cultivators get up and operational very quickly, considering the highly regulated nature of this industry, and the fact that it's an insular intrastate market.”
Flynn said there are 17 dispensaries in Kentucky covering the majority of the state, except the southeastern reaches. Nearby Virginia and West Virginia have legalized medical cannabis, but southeast Kentuckians can no longer go there to purchase.
Border states Ohio, Illinois and Missouri also legalized cannabis, but Kentucky cardholders can no longer bring back products, even if the dispensary is closer or the prices better.
“Obviously, there's no interstate commerce, so all of this is happening right here inside Kentucky, building a brand new market and a brand new conveyor for these products to ultimately get to the people who need medical cannabis,” Flynn said.
Only cardholders can purchase cannabis products from Kentucky dispensaries under the state’s medical cannabis program. Recreational cannabis remains illegal, as does marijuana at the federal level.
Kentucky-manufactured cannabis products are denoted with a symbol on the packaging.
“Law enforcement have been trained here in the Commonwealth to be able to recognize what these products look like, recognize that symbol,” Flynn said. “They should be able to tell right off the bat whether the product was created here in the commonwealth or in other states, so we would encourage people to follow the process.”
