Kentucky on Thursday awarded the startup medical cannabis program's first business license, selecting a laboratory that will be assigned to test the product before offering it to patients.
Gov. Andy Beshear said the program is another step toward ensuring Kentuckians suffering from a list of serious illnesses have access to safe products when it launches in early 2025. Ta.
The first license went to KCA Labs, a cannabis testing facility operating in Nicholasville, Kentucky, he said.
“I'm happy that the first licenses are going to organizations that can help us do this safely,” Beshear said at a news conference in Frankfort.
Kentucky will use a lottery system to award initial licenses to companies wishing to sell, process and grow medical marijuana for patients in the Bluegrass State.
However, there is no limit to the number of initial licenses awarded to safety compliance facilities (the category in which KCA Labs falls), meaning there is no need for a lottery.
These facilities will test all medical cannabis products before they are delivered to eligible patients to ensure the products meet the highest medical standards, Beshear said Thursday.
“Our mission is to ensure Kentuckians with serious medical conditions have access to safe, high-quality, tested medical cannabis products,” the governor said.
“That's exactly what KCA is helping us do,” he added.
KCA Labs is ready for that mission, CEO Jonathan Thompson said.
“KCA's vast knowledge and experience in testing hemp products will translate well to Kentucky's new medical cannabis program,” he said.
The governor said the lottery to award licenses to growers and processors will be held on Oct. 28. The lottery for dispensary licenses will be announced at a later date, most likely in November, Beshear said.
The governor argued that the lottery is a fair way to give each applicant who passes the screening process a chance to obtain a license. Beshear said the caps on these licenses are meant to prevent products from flooding the market and outstripping demand.
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The state has received nearly 5,000 applications for medical marijuana business licenses.
Medical marijuana advocates in Kentucky last year approved medical cannabis for people suffering from a variety of debilitating illnesses, including cancer, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, epilepsy, chronic nausea, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The state legislature passed a bill legalizing it, overcoming years of setbacks. Beshear signed a follow-up bill in April that would move up the licensing timeline for cannabis businesses by six months, allowing them to be granted in 2024.
Bruce Schreiner, Associated Press
