With a little more than a month remaining for businesses to apply for an operating license through the Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis, state officials reported this week that they have received 19 business license applications so far.
Twelve of those applications are for medical cannabis dispensaries. The other business applications received thus far are for cultivators, which plant and harvest raw plant material in an indoor facility, and processors, which process and package the raw cannabis material into a usable product.
Shelby Lewis, Executive Policy Advisor for the Office of Medical Cannabis, said at Thursday’s meeting of the Medical Cannabis Workgroup that they anticipate more applications will be received ahead of the Aug. 31 deadline.
Meanwhile, local governments across the state are deciding whether to allow those businesses in their community. Counties and cities may enact an ordinance to prohibit/opt-out of medical cannabis operations, pass zoning restrictions, put the matter on the ballot for the November election or choose to take no additional action.
The Office of Medical Cannabis is tracking local government activity.
So far, 12 counties and 15 cities have notified the Office of their decision to opt-out of medical cannabis. Click here to view a list of those counties and cities.
Local governments that enact an ordinance to prohibit cannabis business operations must notify the Office within five days of passage.
Ten counties have passed zoning regulations pertaining to cannabis businesses.
As of July 26, 34 counties have notified the Office that they have passed a resolution to place the question of medical cannabis on the ballot. You can view a list of those counties here.
The deadline for counties to approve a ballot resolution in time for the November general election is quickly approaching. The resolution must be approved and received by the county clerk by Aug. 13, 2024. View a sample resolution here.
Note that counties are not required to notify the Office of Medical Cannabis if they have enacted a resolution to put the question on the ballot, so the statewide list may be incomplete. However, if your county has passed such a resolution, you may submit that information to the Office by sending an email to kymedcan@ky.gov.
Following a review of business applications, the Office of Medical Cannabis will conduct a lottery drawing sometime in October to determine licensing and locations.
