Kentucky Patients Can Now Apply For Medical Marijuana Cards From The State If They Have A Doctor’s Recommendation

Kentucky residents with a doctor’s recommendation can officially apply for medical marijuana cards and, once approved, access cannabis at licensed dispensaries after they become operational.

As of Wednesday, patients and caregivers can now visit the Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis (OCM) application portal, submit their information and pay a one-time $25 fee to obtain a card. The application review process may take a few days, officials said.

In order to get the medical cannabis card, patients must have a written certification from a doctor affirming that they have a qualifying condition. Doctors have been able to issue those certifications since the beginning of December.

After holding two licensing lotteries, Kentucky regulators have so far approved about 50 medical cannabis dispensaries throughout the state.

During the November 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.

Meanwhile, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) recently warned Kentucky residents that, if they choose to participate in the state’s medical marijuana program, they will be prohibited from buying or possessing firearms under federal law.

Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said last month that 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.

“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.

As far as his personal views are concerned, the governor said in 2021 that he supported a bill that would end marijuana criminalization altogether.

Beshear also signed a bill last 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.

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 last year 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 in 2023 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.

Last year, 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 also introduced 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.

In 2023, 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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