Kentucky has long been making headlines for all the wrong reasons when it comes to cannabis. As of now, it is one of the only 13 remaining states in the U.S. where cannabis is still illegal, and they didn’t have good luck changing that this past legislative session. However, hope could still be on the horizon.
Things may be slowly changing in the state. A decision last month from Gov. Andy Beshear would allow a cannabis research center to open. The governor approved it via a bill, and used a line-item veto to expand its work and allow it more freedom in choosing an oversight board.
Making this a reality took some time. During the end of the legislative session, those who oppose legal cannabis posed the research center as an alternative to full legalization, claiming it would allow for more time and resources to examine how effective cannabis is in treating illnesses. Thanks to Beshear pushing back against their originally more conservative plan, the center will now be able to do more.
Beshear has long been an advocate for legalization, and has been fighting against the more conservative legislature in Kentucky. After the Senate let the medical legalization bill die, he started talks with his legal team about how he could use executive action to legalize cannabis.
“The legal analysis is not yet finalized, but I do think that there is going to be room for at least some executive action,” Beshear said when asked for an update at his weekly news conference.
“Whatever steps we’re able to take, we want them to be clear. We want it to serve a purpose. It is not a back-end way to allow recreational marijuana. So we want to make sure that we do it right.”
Another major step he is taking is forming a medical cannabis advisory team in order to look into the public opinion on cannabis and gather more data. On Tuesday of this week, he issued an executive order that would appoint 17 experts to a panel formed for the purpose of examining public opinion statewide regarding medical cannabis and how the public feels about legalization.
The role of this committee will be to examine public opinion across the state and then advise the governor on how to deal with providing access to medical cannabis and the different medical conditions that folks are looking to get relief for when it comes to treatment. The governor feels this is needed to get a better understanding of how he can provide support.
“The committee will come together for the first time in the near future to schedule town hall meetings that will be held throughout the commonwealth,” the notice says. “Townhall meetings will be open to the public for discussion and feedback from residents, local leaders, health care providers, and advocacy groups. Meeting details will be released in advance.
“Polling suggests 90 percent of Kentucky adults support legalizing medical cannabis, while at the same time, far too many in our state who could benefit from it are suffering,” the governor adds. He also mentioned that more needs to be done to help provide access to patients, and claims his goal is to “make sure every voice is heard” now that he is “weighing executive action.”
The governor’s office will also be unveiling a website “where Kentuckians can learn more about the upcoming work of the advisory committee and submit their own feedback.”
While Kentucky may still be making slow progress down the path to legalization, this is a major step towards embracing a new way of thinking about cannabis in the notoriously conservative state.
