Gov. Andy Beshear recently announced that nearly 5,000 medical marijuana business license applications have been submitted to the Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis, with 88% of them arriving in the last four days of the license period.
The deadline for submitting applications was August 31st.
“Today, the results are clear,” Beshear said. “We have seen incredible, if not overwhelming, interest, especially among Kentuckians, which is proof that the program will achieve its goals. “We're going to face some challenges getting it right, ensuring the process is fair, getting it through the draw and getting it up and running.”
Of the 4,998 applications, there were 4,076 applications for dispensing pharmacies, 584 applications for cultivators, 333 applications for processing machines, and 5 applications for safety compliance facilities.
Beshear said the number of staff reviewing these applications has already increased from nine to 29 people and plans to add another 20 to process the applications.
“Despite the rush of last-minute applications, the Office of Medical Cannabis is currently reviewing these applications and is on track to issue licenses in 2024,” he said.
Asked about the risk of “duplication of applications,” where companies submit multiple applications under different names to improve their chances of winning the lottery, Beshear said the system is set up to prevent this type of harm. He said there was.
“It's still difficult to determine if that happened and to what extent it happened because there were so many applications, just a huge influx of them at the end. But the system is in place and we're adding additional staff. “I believe we are bringing in 'to prevent that from happening,'” he said.
Beshear said the goal is to complete the first drawing in October. He said the processor and grower draws will be held earlier than the pharmacy draws. The state caps initial license offerings at 16 growers, 10 processors, and 48 dispensaries.
Local governments can still opt out
Medical marijuana will become legal in Kentucky on January 1st, but local governments must enact ordinances banning medical marijuana businesses by December 31st. Local governments have the option of opting in and enacting additional zoning regulations, opting out and not permitting the business altogether, or leaving the question of permitting to voters. In other cases, the problem may be automatically included in the program without taking any action.
According to the Kentucky Association of Counties newsletter, “17 counties and 31 cities have banned all medical marijuana businesses within their jurisdictions, according to the Office of Medical Cannabis, which tracks local government activity on the issue. I voted for it.''
in three counties
In the tri-county region, as of this writing, only Laurel has formally notified the Medical Marijuana Board that it is opting out. Knox County, along with the City of London, put the issue on the November ballot. The city of Corbin agreed.
