Kentucky medical marijuana business licenses: what you need to know

FRANKFORT, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — Gov. Andy Beshear announced that Kentucky businesses and medical practitioners will soon be able to apply for their medical marijuana licenses .

Beshear said in a Thursday news release that the Kentucky Medical Cannabis Program will begin accepting applications for businesses hoping to sell medical cannabis starting July 1.

Officials expect 70,000–90,000 patients to enroll in the program over the next two years.

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“This administration has been working hard to expedite the timeline for making medical cannabis available to Kentuckians with serious medical conditions,” Beshear said in a news release. “I am pleased to report that Team Kentucky will begin accepting applications from prospective medical cannabis businesses beginning next Monday, July 1—a full 6 months ahead of schedule.”

Kentucky’s Board of Medical Licensure and Board of Nursing will also begin taking applications from physicians and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) on July 1, for medical providers seeking to become authorized to write medical cannabis certifications.

Patients can begin applying for their medical cannabis cards in January.

The Kentucky Office Of Medical Cannabis has also launched an information campaign to help all applicants better understand the application process. The campaign includes multiple videos and written guides, all found on the program website .

“The program is focused on ensuring cannabis business licensing is fair, transparent, and customer-service oriented,” said Sam Flynn, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis.

What type of medical marijuana businesses can get licenses?

According to the Kentucky Medical Cannabis Program , there are four types of businesses that will operate in Kentucky, including cultivators , processors , safety compliance facilities , and dispensaries .

Business applications will be submitted online through the application portal of the Kentucky Office Of Medical Cannabis once the portal goes live on July 1. The office said the portal and application window will remain open for a minimum of 60 days until all needed businesses are filled.

The program will acknowledge receipt of an application within 15 calendar days of submission.

The medical cannabis license lottery

The Kentucky Office Of Medical Cannabis said that since the number of licenses available is limited in some business categories, a medical cannabis license lottery will be used to award the final licenses.

The Program will issue its initial allocation of medical cannabis business licenses using a lottery. A lottery is the most fair and transparent method for allocating medical cannabis business licenses in the Commonwealth.

It is important to remember that the Program will only conduct a lottery when the number of eligible​ applicants exceeds the initial license allocation for the business category.

After the Program reviews a business application, and if the application is determined complete by the Program, the business application will be entered into a licensing lottery for the selected cannabis business category if a lottery is necessary.

Kentucky Office Of Medical Cannabis

There will be 10 licenses available for processors, a total of 16 cultivator licenses, and 48 licenses for dispensaries spread out across 11 regions, ensuring Kentuckians with qualifying conditions have the shortest drive possible to a dispensary.

The lottery will only go into effect if there are more accepted licenses than are available.

The Cabinet’s Office of Legal Services and Kentucky Lottery Corporation will assist the office in the lottery before announcing the recipients. Businesses are expected to know if they will receive a license, by lottery or not, in October.

Businesses hoping to apply for any licenses are advised to review the materials provided by the Kentucky Office Of Medical Cannabis before the application portal goes live on July 1.

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