Kentucky Awards Final Medical Cannabis Dispensary Licenses

The Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis (OCM) on Monday held the state’s last medical cannabis licensing lottery, drawing 12 final dispensary license winners.

An earlier licensing lottery in November awarded the state’s first 36 dispensary licenses. Like before, selected applicants have 15 days to pay the $5,000 licensing fee or they will have to forfeit their license. Previous lotteries awarded the program’s cultivation and processing licenses.

The OCM noted the state had received nearly 5,000 medical cannabis business applications, of which 4,075 were dispensary applicants.

Gov. Andy Beshear (D) noted that while there were no more cannabis licenses available, he suggested that more might be awarded if the medical cannabis program were significantly expanded.

“Our hope is that, certainly, there will be additional conditions added later in the future, whereby other Kentuckians will have access to treat chronic or difficult conditions. If that’s the case and/or we see more people qualifying than the initial projection suggested, that will give us an opportunity to expand this medical cannabis program.” — Gov. Andy Beshear (D), in a press release

Kentucky residents can start applying for the medical cannabis program starting January 1, although OCM Executive Director Sam Flynn noted that doctors and nurse practitioners cannot issue the ID cards themselves. “Rather, they write certifications into our electronic monitoring system so when a patient applies for a card – which allows purchase of medical cannabis – their written certification will populate and the patient can click on it to associate the certification with his or her card application,” he said.

“The beginning of the year will mark an important milestone, providing eligible Kentuckians with an additional option to support their health care needs,” said Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander.