Kentucky’s medical marijuana program just hit a milestone: more than 30,000 registered cardholders.
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman announced Thursday that the program has now passed 30,000 patients — “30,000 Kentuckians with access to safe relief and that is close to home,” she said, “our neighbors that are suffering from conditions like cancer, PTSD and multiple sclerosis.”
The numbers behind the milestone:
- 27 medical cannabis dispensaries are now open across the state, including a new one in Maysville — and dispensaries are open in all 11 licensing regions.
- 47 of the 80 approved businesses are up and operating, with more opening soon.
- More than 500 medical practitioners are approved to recommend cannabis to patients.
That is real progress. It is also incomplete.
The milestone comes with a fight attached. In June, Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order broadening the list of qualifying conditions — adding 15 more, including Parkinson’s disease, HIV/AIDS, sickle cell anemia, fibromyalgia, arthritis, and glaucoma — after the legislature declined to expand the list itself. Days later, House Majority Whip Jason Nemes asked Attorney General Russell Coleman to make sure state agencies “not cooperate” with the directive, calling it “unlawful” and saying licensees who take part “should be prosecuted.” The governor pushed back, calling that a “complete lack of humanity.”
Patients should not be caught in a political fight over who gets to decide. And the bigger point stands: 30,000 Kentuckians can now get medical cannabis legally, while every other adult in this state still faces arrest for the same plant. From July 2002 to June 2022, 303,264 Kentuckians were charged with cannabis offenses.
Kentucky deserves to finish the job: let voters decide on decriminalization — adults 21 and older able to possess up to one ounce and cultivate, harvest, and store up to five plants for personal use, free of criminal sanction, with the General Assembly regulating production, processing, and sale.
Sign the petition to put cannabis decriminalization on the Kentucky ballot: https://www.change.org/LetKentuckyVote
And drop your county to show support across all 120 counties: https://legalizekentucky.com/drop-your-county
Source: Marijuana Moment, “Kentucky’s Medical Marijuana Program Hits New ‘Milestone’ With 30,000+ Cardholders, Lieutenant Governor Announces”: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/kentuckys-medical-marijuana-program-hits-new-milestone-with-30000-cardholders-lieutenant-governor-announces/
#LetKentuckyVote #LegalizeKentucky #Kentucky #MedicalCannabis #CannabisFreedom #EndProhibition #KYCannabis #PatientsFirst
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