Nearly three years after Kentucky launched its medical marijuana program, half of the cannabis businesses licensed to operate have opened.
That was a top line from Gov. Andy Beshear, who spoke Wednesday at the Kentucky Cannabis Industry Alliance's fall conference at the Lexington Marriott City Center.
“We've hit milestone after milestone, and access continues to expand,” Beshear said. “I'm proud that we're getting this done for our people. Some said it wasn't possible, but we proved them wrong, and we delivered success.”
Beshear first legalized medical cannabis for those with one of a small list of qualifying conditions in 2022 through an executive order. The legislature ultimately approved statewide program framework, with a lottery for the first 80 businesses held in 2024.
Forty-six of those have now opened, Beshear said this week: 13 cultivators, two safety compliance facilities, five processors and 26 dispensaries.
With the latest dispensary opening, Sunnyside Medical Cannabis Dispensary in Prestonsburg, there is now a retailer in all 11 of the state program’s regions.
KCIA Executive Director Rachel Roberts said that’s a huge milestone for Kentucky’s cannabis industry, which faces a high-burden of access. Only those with qualifying medical conditions, approved by a certified practitioner, can purchase and use medical cannabis.
Recreational cannabis, along with smoking marijuana, remains illegal in the Bluegrass State and at the federal level.
Additionally, KCIA members cannot advertise, which means it’s harder to reach potential patients, even now that businesses are open, Roberts said.
“Effectively, every Kentuckian is within an hour of a dispensary,” Roberts noted. “There are some outliers, of course, but for the most part, most Kentuckians now are only an hour away at most from care.”
Behind the juvenile, multi-million dollar industry? More than a decade of lobbying lawmakers in Frankfort, Roberts said.
With more businesses getting up and running — particularly cultivators, which grow the product, and testing facilities, which ensure it is safe for consumption — another major burden on medical patients should ease: high price tags, Roberts said.
Under state law, cannabis products sold in Kentucky must also be grown and processed here, and that, coupled with high demand and low supply for the opening years, has led to sticker shock for those attempting to purchase it. Additionally, the state ended an executive order legalizing cardholders to bring products back from other states.
“The ways to get prices down are for more dispensaries to open, for more patients to understand access to the program,” Roberts said.
As of Oct. 15, more than 29,000 Kentuckians have medical cannabis cards. For the market to be considered healthy, Roberts said that figure needs to be closer to 90,000.
Still, Beshear said Wednesday he is pleased with the program’s rollout.
“I think this can be a standard for how you do this and how you do this right,” Beshear said. “As you all know, this is an industry that almost wasn't. We had legislative leadership that was opposed to it, or that said out loud that they would never authorize it as long as I was governor.”
Despite the program eventually approved by legislators being “imperfect,” Beshear said Kentuckians in need will use it.
