Kentucky Gov. Beshear: 'The Jury Is No Longer Out,' Kentuckians Want Medical Cannabis

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (D) hailed the outcome of Tuesday's election as a decisive statement on medical cannabis reform. In an election process that had bipartisan and widespread support, voters in over 100 cities and counties across the state approved local measures to permit medical marijuana businesses in their towns and jurisdictions.

Beshear, who signed a medical marijuana legalization bill into law last year, declared that the results confirm what many already believed: Kentuckians support cannabis reform.

"This signals what we have known for a long time, which is that the jury is no longer out on medical cannabis," Beshear said in his weekly new conference Thursday. "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."

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All 53 cities and 53 counties presented with medical cannabis measures in Kentucky approved them, with over 340,000 votes cast in favor. This continues a trend in the state where more than 40 cities have already authorized marijuana businesses and only 20 jurisdictions have opted to ban them.

"We saw overwhelming support at the polls for our new system of medical cannabis," Beshear said, noting the uniform wins for the measures. "In every single place that medical cannabis was put on the ballot, it won – meaning citizens of every part of Kentucky said that it is time and they want to see this option in their community."

Of the state’s 106 ballot measures, no counties or cities opted to bar medical marijuana businesses from operating in their borders, according to data compiled by Louisville Public Media’s Justin Hicks at WFPL News who noted that "every single county and every single city voted to approve medical cannabis businesses."

Kentucky stood apart in this year’s elections as cannabis reform ballots failed in North Dakota, South Dakota and Florida.

Kentucky’s new medical marijuana law will come into effect in January 2025. Preparations by the Office of Medical Cannabis (OCM) include recent lotteries for approving cultivators, processors and testing facilities, with a dispensary lottery scheduled for Dec. 16. Starting Dec. 1, physicians will be able to issue medical marijuana recommendations, and patients can begin applying for their cannabis cards on Jan. 1.

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Government photo of Andy Beshear