Kentucky Could Legalize Recreational Marijuana If New Medical Program Works Well, Governor Says
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The governor of Kentucky says the state could potentially move toward legalizing recreational marijuana as a next step if officials can “prove” that the new medical marijuana program is effectively regulated and protects public safety.
As the Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis (OCM) continues to award licenses ahead of the market launch next year, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) weighed in on broader reform in an interview with The Courier Journal that was published on Thursday.
With respect to recreational marijuana legalization, Beshear said he thinks “we’ve got to prove that we can safely provide medical marijuana before we consider that step.”
“I think that the way the system is being set up is going to be one that is safe,” he said. “You know, I’m a former attorney general. I wanted to do this in a way to where we regulate it. The office that’s been created has done a really good job.”
The governor also touted the bipartisan cooperation around implementing the medical marijuana law, and he pointed out that inspectors have already started the process of reviewing facilities for businesses that were awarded licenses.
“They’re already looking at the cultivation and the processing and the labs, the dispensaries, that is going on right now,” he said. “So I want to give the people of Kentucky time to see how we do medical marijuana, and then they’ll be able to make a decision from there.”
As far as his personal views are concerned, the governor said in 2021 that he supported a bill that would end marijuana criminalization altogether.
“When when we look at folks that are using versus selling, we need better methods certainly than arrest and incarceration, but we also in the future ought to at least be open to conversations on the recreational side.”
He also said at the time that he wanted to let Kentucky farmers grow and sell medical cannabis across state lines.
“Kentucky and our topography, our farmers could benefit significantly from legalization of medicinal marijuana and then allowing them to grow medicinal marijuana for other states,” the governor said.
Meanwhile, as of the beginning of December, qualified patients in Kentucky are able to receive a recommendation to access medical marijuana from a certified doctor.
During last month’s election, Kentucky saw more than 100 cities and counties approve local ordinances to allow medical cannabis businesses in their jurisdictions. The governor said the election results demonstrate that “the jury is no longer out” on the issue that is clearly supported by voters across partisan and geographical lines.
“Kentuckians want their families, friends and neighbors who have serious medical conditions—like cancer, multiple sclerosis or PTSD—to have safe and affordable access,” he said. “We are keeping our promise to make sure they will.”
The governor signed a bill earlier this year that moved the medical cannabis licensing timetable ahead six months to allow the market to launch earlier. And regulators received about 5,000 applications for medical marijuana business licenses since opening up a two-month window that ended in October.
All told, Kentucky took in nearly $28 million in non-refundable application fees during that two-month period. With about 4,000 applications submitted for dispensary licenses—and just 48 that will be selected statewide—that means each applicant has about a 1 percent chance of being awarded the license.
The governor also recently said that once the cannabis program is up and running, he intends to rescind an executive order he issued last year to legally protect patients who possess medical cannabis purchased at out-of-state licensed retailers.
In June, the governor also announced that the state Board of Medical Licensure and Board of Nursing would simultaneously start issuing permits for doctors and nurses to issue medical cannabis recommendations to patients beginning in July.
Beshear separately participated in a historic roundtable discussion at the White House in March alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and pardon recipients who received clemency under President Joe Biden’s pardon proclamations.
After Biden issued his first pardon proclamation in 2022, Beshear said he was “actively considering” possible marijuana clemency actions the state could take and encouraged people to petition for relief in the interim.
In July, Beshear filed a federal comment in support of the Biden administration’s marijuana rescheduling proposal, saying the reform will have “substantial and meaningful impacts” on patients, communities, businesses and research.
The governor has separately urged lawmakers to expand the medical marijuana program, announcing in January that two independent advisory groups he appointed unanimously voted to recommend the addition of more than a dozen new conditions to qualify patients for medical cannabis.
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Meanwhile, the state legislature delivered a budget bill to the governor last year that includes a provision restricting funding for the medical cannabis regulatory body overseeing the state program until its advisory board determines there’s a “propensity” of research supporting the therapeutic “efficacy” of cannabis.
This January, Kentucky lawmakers filed marijuana legislation with a notable bill number: HB 420. If passed, it would have legalized and regulated cannabis for adults 21 and older, though it did not advance in the state’s Republican-controlled legislature this session.
A more limited legalization measure, HB 72, was introduced earlier that month by Rep. Nima Kulkarni (D). It would end all penalties for simple possession and use of marijuana by adults 21 and older and also allow adults to grow a small number of cannabis plants at home. Commercial sales, however, would remain prohibited. It too died, however.
Last year, Kulkarni introduced a measure that would have let voters decide whether to legalize use, possession and home cultivation. The lawmaker previously introduced a similar noncommercial legalization proposal for the 2022 legislative session.
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Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
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