LOUISVILLE, Ky. — While the presidential race was a big driver for Kentuckians to go to the polls this election, one of the other big ticket items this year was medical cannabis.
During Gov. Andy Beshear’s weekly news conference on Thursday, he said 21 Kentucky counties decided to not allow medical cannabis businesses to operate in their areas, while 39 counties decided to directly allow them. More than 50 county governments let voters decide.
Some of those counties were Bullitt, Carroll, Grayson, Henry, Marion, Meade, Nelson, Shelby, Taylor and Washington.
Beshear said every city and county that had medical cannabis on their ballots voted to let those businesses operate in their communities.
“This signals what we have known for a long time, which is that the jury is no longer out on medical cannabis,” he said. “Kentuckians want their families, friends and neighbors who have serious medical conditions – like cancer, multiple sclerosis or PTSD – to have safe and affordable access. We are keeping our promise to make sure they will.”
On Oct. 28, the state held its first lottery to award 26 businesses with a license to either grow or process medical marijuana.
Applicants selected in the lottery will have 15 days to pay their license fee. If they don’t pay the fee, the business could forfeit their license.
Two more lotteries are scheduled to distribute dispensary licenses. The governor has previously said more than 4,000 businesses applied for that type of license.
Beshear said the state would hold its first dispensary license lottery to select applicants in nine regions on Nov. 25.
Four applicants will be drawn for each region.
The final dispensary license drawing will be held on Dec. 16.
Applicants will be drawn for the final two regions, which include Jefferson and Fayette counties. An additional dispensary license will be selected for those counties as well due to their size.
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