Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said his state's Office of Medical Cannabis has so far issued 29 licenses to cultivators, safety compliance facilities and processors. The office will be holding lotteries on two dates for dispensary licenses. The first will be held Monday, Nov. 25, at 2 p.m. at the Kentucky Lottery Corp. in Louisville. That lottery will be for 9 of the 11 medical cannabis dispensary licensing regions. The selectees for the remaining 2 regions will be drawn Monday, Dec. 16.
On July 1, 2024, Kentucky-licensed doctors and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) began applying to their licensing boards to become authorized medical cannabis practitioners. To date, 154 Kentucky doctors and APRNs have become authorized medical cannabis practitioners.
To help Kentuckians find authorized practitioners, Kentucky is launching the Kentucky Medical Cannabis Practitioner Directory. This online directory will allow Kentucky patients to find the practitioner nearest them, search within a specific city or county, or search by a specific specialty. This directory will be available beginning Dec. 1 at kymedcan.ky.gov.
Also beginning Dec. 1, authorized medical cannabis practitioners will be able to begin issuing valid written certifications to Kentucky patients. To receive a written certification, patients will need to find an authorized practitioner, set up an initial appointment, receive a diagnosis or confirmation of a qualifying condition, and retrieve the written certification when applying for a medical cannabis card. All valid certifications must be entered by the authorized practitioner through the Office of Medical Cannabis’ online portal.
Beshear also announced that Team Kentucky will be hosting a monthly webinar series for any Kentuckian interested in becoming a medical cannabis cardholder.
“When we launched this program, our mission was to ensure Kentuckians suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis and other serious conditions have safe, affordable access to medical cannabis,” said Beshear. “And with these announcements today we are taking big steps toward that goal.”
