Kentucky now has a retail medical marijuana dispensary open in all of the state program’s 11 regions, widening access for the burgeoning program.
The milestone comes this month as Sunnyside Medical Cannabis Dispensary prepares for its Oct. 23 grand opening in Prestonsburg.
Regional director of Florida and Kentucky for Sunnyside Lourie Moyer said opening the Eastern Kentucky location has been a great experience.
“The response from the local community about us coming on board has been overwhelmingly positive, which is such a fantastic thing to see when you do go into a community, that they believe that we will be a good community partner with them,” Moyer said.
Kentucky held a lottery to award licenses for all sectors of the medical cannabis industry. Under state law, all cannabis sold in the commonwealth must also be grown and tested here.
Most regions were only initially awarded licenses for a single dispensary, but population centers Fayette and Jefferson counties each received two.
According to a Kentucky Cannabis Industry Alliance newsletter, the state has more than 28,000 medical cannabis cardholders as of Oct. 2. In the mountain region, which includes 18 relatively low population counties and home to the Prestonsburg dispensary, there are fewer than 1,000.
Sunnyside is the 26th dispensary to open since the state began building its medical marijuana program in 2023. Recreational cannabis remains illegal in Kentucky, as does smoking marijuana. To date, the state has licensed 48 dispensaries.
“Kentuckians suffering from PTSD, cancer, terminal illnesses, sickle cell anemia and more deserve a safe, non-addictive option for relief, and medical cannabis provides that,” Beshear stated in an Oct. 16 release. “With this week’s opening of Sunnyside Dispensary, we now have dispensaries open in all 11 licensing regions throughout the commonwealth. Every step of this process has put patients first, and I’m proud of the progress we’ve made.”
The new dispensary is located off one of the larger roads in Prestonsburg. Moyer said access was top of mind in its selection.
“So many people shared with me how they hadn't got their med card because there wasn't anywhere for them to go that wasn't a drive to Lexington,” Moyer said. “The amount of people that were excited about that and moving through the process of now getting their medical card from the state of Kentucky was the big message that we got.”
Medical cannabis is only available to cardholders, and obtaining one requires an individual to have one of the state’s qualifying conditions, which include things like chronic pain and cancer.
