Hardin County, Kentucky has voted overwhelmingly to allow medical marijuana dispensaries within their boundaries.
Voters have approved an ordinance allowing licensed marijuana dispensaries to operate within county lines. This decision comes as the state prepares to roll out its medical cannabis program in early 2025. The state legalized medical marijuana in 2023. Within Hardin County, the cities of Vine Grove and West Point approved their own ordinances allowing medical marijuana dispensaries.
The ordinance, which was approved with nearly 70% support, sets the groundwork for dispensaries, cultivation sites, and other medical cannabis operations. A similar ordinance is on the ballot in more than 100 other cities and counties in Kentucky.
Harin is the sixth most populated county in Kentucky with around 112,000 residents.
Kentucky’s medical marijuana legalization law, signed by Governor Andy Beshear in March 2023, allows qualified patients to access medical cannabis under regulated conditions. Effective January 1, 2025, the law permits patients diagnosed with conditions like cancer, epilepsy, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, and PTSD to use medical marijuana upon a doctor’s recommendation. The law establishes a regulated framework, requiring the Department for Alcoholic Beverage Control to oversee licensing for cultivation, processing, and dispensing facilities.
Under the state’s medical marijuana law, patients will not be allowed to smoke cannabis but may use it in forms like oils, edibles, and vapes.
