There’s been an update on medical cannabis in Kentucky.
The Office of Medical Cannabis will hold lotteries on two dates for dispensary licenses. The first will be held on Monday at 2 p.m. at the Kentucky Lottery Corp. in Louisville. That lottery will be for nine of the 11 medical cannabis dispensary licensing regions. The dispensaries for the remaining two regions will be drawn Monday, December 16.
The Office of Medical Cannabis previously issued 29 licenses to cultivators, safety compliance facilities and processors.
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, and that number is growing steadily each week, according to Gov. Andy Beshear’s office.
To help Kentuckians find authorized practitioners, Team Kentucky is launching the Kentucky Medical Cannabis Practitioner Directory. This online directory will allow Kentucky patients to find the practitioner nearest them by searching within a specific city or county, or searching by a specific specialty. The directory will be available beginning December 1 at kymedcan.ky.gov.
Also beginning December 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, 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.
Team Kentucky will host a monthly webinar series for any Kentuckian interested in becoming a medical cannabis cardholder. The webinar dates are posted at kymedcan.ky.gov.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
