LOUISVILLE — Kentucky awarded its first 26 medical cannabis licenses through a lottery held Monday at the Kentucky Lottery Corporation in Louisville.
The first round of licenses, drawn by state lottery staff, went to 16 cultivators and 10 processors.
Monday’s winners will get an email within 24 hours and must pay a licensing fee within 15 days. Failure to do so will result in licensing forfeiting, said Sam Flynn, the executive director of the Office of Medical Cannabis. Winners will have to renew after a year.
Gov. Andy Beshear called the Monday drawing a “big step forward.”
“Medical cannabis can help people, especially with really serious conditions,” Beshear said after the drawing. “People will be buying product that is grown here, that is processed here, that is tested here, that would otherwise be in other states.”
Flynn said the program is focused on equitable access for Kentuckians who qualify for medical cannabis.
“We want to make sure that these folks have access points throughout the state,” he said. “We want to make sure they have the safest possible medical products and the best possible care available.”
In a statement, Kentucky Lottery President and CEO Mary Harville said, “over the 35 years of its existence, the Lottery has been known for conducting drawings for a plethora of its draw-based games, first with machines and balls, and now, with state-of-the-art random number generators.”
“These drawings are conducted with the highest level of integrity and are in accordance with industry established procedures,” said Harville. “We are happy to be able to bring this level of integrity to the cannabis drawings.”
A bipartisan effort
In 2023, the legislature legalized medical marijuana for Kentuckians suffering from chronic illnesses.
Then, the bipartisan House Bill 829 that became law during this year’s legislative session moved up the medical cannabis licensing timeline from January 2025 to July 1, 2024.
During the application period, July 1–Aug. 31, the state received 4,998 applications for medical cannabis business licenses, including 918 cultivator and processor applications, according to Beshear’s office.
Patients who qualify for medical cannabis — with a history of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cancer or other approved medical conditions — won’t be able to apply for cannabis cards until Jan. 1.
Flynn said providers who write certifications for those cards will prescribe types and amounts like any medication.
“We want to make sure that this is safe, that it’s driven by health care and health care decisions,” Flynn said.
“Help is on the way,” Beshear said. “There is a new day coming in Kentucky…where you’re going to be able to get safe medical cannabis to help you with your conditions.”
A lottery date for the dispensers will be announced on Thursday, Beshear said.
The winners
The 10 processor winners are:
- KYP LLC – Jefferson County
- Kaldem Holdings – Muhlenberg County
- Limestone Processing – Fayette County
- Hilltop Healing Investco – Warren County
- Bijal Kentucky LLC – Boyd County
- AJ Alchemy Labs LLC – Barren County
- Jill’s Dispensary LLC – Christian County
- One Leaf Technologies LLC – Bullitt County
- Ice House Processing, LLC – Fulton County
- LMMKY LLC – Warren County
The 16 cultivator winners are:
- Natural State GreenGrass CannaCo LLC – Warren County
- KSYKAPP, LLC – Barren County
- NG Health LLC – Fayette County
- Armory Kentucky LLC – Estill County
- JMOKY LLC – Warren County
- Canopy Capital LLC – Grant County
- L&O Legacies – Boyd County
- Synapse Remedies LLC – Jefferson County
- CW Bluegrass, LLC – Daviess County
- Popp Cultivation LLC – Bracken County
- Arizona Bay Investments LLC – Lincoln County
- Wong Investments, LLC – Christian County
- Joseph Serock – Christian County
- Elevated Essence LLC – Bullitt County
- Slaughter Branch LLC – Hopkins County
- Goeing Blue LLC – Fayette County
This article is republished under a Creative Commons license from Kentucky Lantern, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on Facebook and Twitter.
Sarah Ladd is a Louisville-based journalist and Kentuckian. She has covered everything from crime to higher education. In 2020, she started reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic and has covered health ever since.
