Kentucky: Market and legal data analysis of the cannabis sector

22nd November 2024: US - Kentucky: Governor Andy Beshear has announced that, starting 1st December, qualified patients in Kentucky will be able to receive a doctor’s recommendation to access medical cannabis. He said: “Beginning 1st December, the authorised practitioners will be able to begin issuing valid written certifications to Kentucky patients.” The governor’s administration has created a web portal called the Kentucky Medical Cannabis Practitioner Directory to help connect patients with medical providers as it prepares for the start of its medical cannabis programme in 2025.
27th September 2024: US - Kentucky: The Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis has issued its first medical cannabis licence, press reports. The licence was awarded to a testing laboratory in a milestone for establishing a medical cannabis programme in the state. Medical cannabis was legalised in 2023, but the enabling law does not take effect until the beginning of 2025. Cultivation and processing licences will be issued via lottery on 28th October, while dispensary licences will be issued shortly thereafter.
18th April 2024: US - Kentucky: House Bill (HB) 829 has been signed by the governor. The bill will introduce some amendments to medical cannabis regulation, including registration and reporting requirements. HB 829 will also prohibit vaping cannabis on any form of public transport, in any public place, or in any form of public accommodation.
17th April 2024: US - Kentucky: House Bill (HB) 829 has been passed by the Senate and now heads to the governor. The bill would introduce some amendments to medical cannabis regulation, including registration and reporting requirements. HB 829 would also prohibit vaping cannabis on any form of public transport, in any public place, or in any form of public accommodation.
13th March 2024: US - Kentucky: House Bill (HB) 829 has been passed by the House and now heads to the Senate. The bill would introduce some amendments to medical cannabis regulation, including registration and reporting requirements. HB 829 would also prohibit vaping cannabis on any form of public transport, in any public place, or in any form of public accommodation.
8th January 2024: US - Kentucky: The Team Kentucky Medical Cannabis Workgroup has unanimously voted to recommend that the legislature add 15 qualifying conditions for medical cannabis to the current list. Senate Bill 47, which legalised medical cannabis for 7 medical conditions, is set to take effect on 1st January 2025.
13th November 2023: US - Kentucky: The General Assembly’s Administrative Regulations Review Subcommittee has approved an emergency rule to regulate hemp-derived cannabinoid products, press reports. The emergency rule was necessary to implement House Bill (HB) 544, which was passed earlier this year. Pursuant to HB 544, the emergency rule divides hemp cannabinoids into two distinct categories – adult-use and non-intoxicating – and places different requirements and restrictions on them. The emergency rule will be in effect until 27th April 2024, at which point a final rule must be approved.
3rd April 2023: US - Kentucky: Senate Bill (SB) 47 has been signed by the governor and enacted into law. SB 47 legalises using and possessing cannabis to treat people with certain medical conditions such as cancer, severe pain, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms or spasticity, chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting, PTSD or any other medical condition or disease which the Kentucky Center for Cannabis deems appropriate. The bill establishes a medical cannabis access programme for qualified patients with authorisation from their physician, and exempts medical cannabis from state sales and excise taxes, though it specifies that smoking and home cultivation would remain prohibited.
31st March 2023: US - Kentucky: Senate Bill (SB) 47 has passed the House and now heads to the governor’s desk. SB 47 would legalise using and possessing cannabis to treat people with certain medical conditions such as cancer, severe pain, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms or spasticity, chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting, PTSD or any other medical condition or disease which the Kentucky Center for Cannabis deems appropriate. The bill would establish a medical cannabis access programme for qualified patients with authorisation from their physician and exempt medical cannabis from the state sales and excise taxes, though it specifies that smoking and home cultivation would remain prohibited.
24th March 2023: US - Kentucky: House Bill (HB) 544 has been signed by the governor and enacted into law. HB 544 will set guidelines for the regulation of hemp-derived delta-8 THC products, including banning the sale and possession of delta-8 products to anyone younger than 21. The bill would also require new selling, labelling and testing requirements, and would direct the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services to establish administrative regulations for the production and sale of delta-8 products by 1st August 2023.
21st March 2023: US - Kentucky: House Bill 544 has been delivered to the governor for approval after being passed by the Senate. It would set guidelines for the regulation of hemp-derived delta-8 THC products, including banning their sale of delta-8 to under-21s. It also set new retail, labelling and testing requirements, and would direct the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services to establish administrative regulations for the production and sale of delta-8 products by 1st August.
20th March 2023: US - Kentucky: Senate Bill (SB) 47 has passed the Senate and now heads to the House. SB 47 would establish a medical cannabis programme for qualified patients with authorisation from their physician, specifying that smoking and home cultivation would remain prohibited. The bill would legalise the use and possession of medical cannabis to treat people with certain medical conditions such as cancer, severe pain, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms or spasticity, chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting, PTSD or any other medical condition or disease which the Kentucky Center for Cannabis deems appropriate.

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