Kentucky’s medical marijuana program is set to take a substantial step forward on Monday with its inaugural license lottery for cultivators and processors.
The upcoming lottery will grant licenses to those tasked with cultivating and processing medical cannabis, marking a key milestone in Kentucky’s rollout of its newly legalized medical cannabis program. A separate lottery for dispensaries is anticipated by year’s end, paving the way for retail outlets to open in communities that permit them.
Kentucky’s medical marijuana law defines cultivators as entities responsible for growing, harvesting, and curing raw cannabis, while processors handle the transformation of raw cannabis into usable products. In this first lottery, 16 cultivator licenses and 10 processor licenses will be awarded randomly, with 584 applicants vying for cultivator slots and 344 for processor slots. The lottery event, open for public viewing, will be livestreamed at 2 p.m.
While state lawmakers approved medical cannabis statewide last year, dispensary operations will be limited to areas that permit them. Next week, voters in over 100 Kentucky cities and counties will decide whether to permit dispensaries in their communities. Northern Kentucky counties, including Carroll, Grant, Robertson, and Pendleton, will feature the measure on local ballots, alongside cities such as Florence, Union, Crestview Hills, and Independence. Meanwhile, cities like Covington and Newport have already approved dispensary operations through local government decisions.
Kentucky dispensaries will begin sales on Jan. 1, 2025, pending community approvals.
