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Kentucky’s governor is calling on lawmakers to let more patients legally access medical marijuana, and he’s announcing that cannabis gummies are now available for purchase in the state’s licensed dispensaries.
Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said at a briefing on Thursday that his administration sent a letter urging legislative leadership to pass a bill adding ALS, Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease, sickle cell anemia, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, terminal illnesses and other maladies as medical cannabis qualifying conditions.
“In most other states that have a medical marijuana program, these are conditions that are covered, and they are conditions that our board of physicians and advisors have recommended as as proper,” he said. “Expanding the list could help provide relief to approximately 430,000 Kentuckians that currently don’t have access but are dealing with these challenges.”
The governor said state officials are “making great progress” in rolling out the medical marijuana program “to increase access to those already eligible.”
“Today, we have 510 registered practitioners and over 18,500 approved card holders, and those numbers continue to grow,” Beshear said, adding that regulators are making “steady progress” in approving businesses at each step of the cannabis supply chain.
“As the supply chain expands, patients are starting to
The post Kentucky Governor Announces Medical Marijuana Gummies Are Now Available, While Pushing Lawmakers To Approve New Qualifying Conditions appeared first on GrowCola.com.
The prohibitionist group Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is facing criticism over its decision to deny multiple drug policy reform experts entry to a summit it is hosting in Washington, D.C. this week where the organization will lay out its 2026 priorities and agenda.
Despite billing the 2026 SAM Good Drug Policy Summit as an opportunity for researchers and non-profits to learn how to “educate their communities and employees on all issues surrounding drugs and drug policy,” the pro-reform group Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) says SAM rejected their attendance and refunded paid tickets for the event.
“We will bring together powerful voices in drug policy from across the field, such as prevention, treatment, recovery, and law enforcement experts to amplify our collective work and scale up drug policy solutions by educating decision-makers and the public about ways to harness science to prevent drug use, treat addiction, and forge pathways to recovery,” SAM, which also partnered with Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) and the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions for the conference, said in a description of the event.
Of course, SAM and SSDP hold diametrically opposed viewpoints on the best path to address drug policy issues—with the former staunchly defending the status quo of prohibition and the latter favoring legalization and regulation. But SSDP says the denial of its membership from attending reflects a myopic attitude toward timely policy matters.
“Every SSDP member who purchased a ticket to attend—notably, those who are at the front lines of drug policy, including researchers, public health practitioners, and policy experts—received a refund with no real explanation as to why,” SSDP Executive Director Kat Murti said in a press release.
“The blanket exclusion of SSDP members raises serious concerns about SAM’s stated commitment to ‘good drug policy’ and open dialogue,” she said. “Rather than engaging with qualified experts whose work is grounded in peer-reviewed science, public health practice, and harm reduction, SAM appears intent on insulating its conference from evidence-based scrutiny.”
Multiple SSDP experts received a “note from organizer” after signing up and paying for their tickets to the summit that said “our organization reviews each attendee and their affiliation for all events,” and that following the review, “we have decided to refund your registration for the 2026 SAM Good Drug Policy Summit.”
SAM Executive Vice President Luke Niforatos declined to comment for this story when contacted by Marijuana Moment.
The conference comes as a critical inflection point in federal drug policy, with a decision pending on a proposal to reschedule marijuana and the U.S. Supreme Court reviewing a statutory ban preventing people who use cannabis from using or possessing firearms, for example. SAM has firmly inserted itself in those and other relevant debates.
“Excluding motivated young people who are passionate about drug policy simply because of their affiliations shows profound insecurity and questionable motives,“ Matthew Aragón, a longtime SSDP member and public health expert focused on youth, said.
Finnegan McGuinness, a neuroscience researcher with SSDP, said approaches to drug policy issues “need to be evidence-based, centered in human rights, and must hold up to scrutiny from diverse perspectives.”
“When SAM unilaterally bars SSDP from attending their summit, it sends the message that they are not truly concerned with scientific approaches to drug policy reform,” he said.
Meanwhile, as advocates and stakeholders await action on a proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)—which President Donald Trump recently directed the attorney general to expeditiously finalize—SAM has been gearing up for a legal showdown if the reform comes to fruition. The organization has retained the legal services of Trump’s former attorney general, Bill Barr, to fight the policy change if it’s implemented.
Barr’s firm previously represented SAM last year in asking the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to extend the public comment period for the cannabis rescheduling proposal.
Because current Attorney General Pam Bondi has not yet signed off on the proposed rescheduling rule, which is the product of a scientific and legal review initiated under the Biden administration, no lawsuit has been filed yet. But should that happen, SAM President Kevin Sabet said his organization intends to sue in the court system while also petitioning DEA to move cannabis back to Schedule I.
Sabet has also noted that advocates are “facing increased pressure in legalized states, with several now considering a rollback of such policies.” That includes proposed partial repeals of voter-approved legalization laws in Maine, Massachusetts and Arizona.
Back in September, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) hosted the SAM president for an event focused on cannabis use trends and youth prevention, giving the organization a prominent platform for a discussion that largely promoted an anti-reform agenda.
SAM and 21 other prohibitionist groups also recently filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, urging justices to uphold the constitutionality of a federal gun ban for people who use cannabis—which they claim is associated with violence and psychosis.
Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
The post Scientists And Advocates Slam Anti-Marijuana Group For Blocking Their Participation In D.C. Drug Policy Conference appeared first on Marijuana Moment.
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Kentucky’s governor is calling on lawmakers to let more patients legally access medical marijuana, and he’s announcing that cannabis gummies are now available for purchase in the state’s licensed dispensaries.
Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said at a briefing on Thursday that his administration sent a letter urging legislative leadership to pass a bill adding ALS, Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease, sickle cell anemia, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, terminal illnesses and other maladies as medical cannabis qualifying conditions.
“In most other states that have a medical marijuana program, these are conditions that are covered, and they are conditions that our board of physicians and advisors have recommended as as proper,” he said. “Expanding the list could help provide relief to approximately 430,000 Kentuckians that currently don’t have access but are dealing with these challenges.”
The governor said state officials are “making great progress” in rolling out the medical marijuana program “to increase access to those already eligible.”
“Today, we have 510 registered practitioners and over 18,500 approved card holders, and those numbers continue to grow,” Beshear said, adding that regulators are making “steady progress” in approving businesses at each step of the cannabis supply chain.
“As the supply chain expands, patients are starting to see more options come online,” he said. “We can announce that gummies are now on the market in Kentucky, and that progress is showing up in communities across Kentucky. ”
The governor’s latest update comes about a month after he took to the podium and said he’s “not satisfied” with the time it’s taken to launch the state’s medical marijuana program—but that he anticipates the pace of patient access would “pick up significantly” in 2026.
Also last month, Beshear said he expects two additional dispensaries will open their doors “once additional product becomes available.” The state’s first medical cannabis dispensary launched in December.
The governor, who has long championed cannabis reform, previewed the market launch that month, while making the case that medical marijuana will help thousands of patients find an alternative to opioids for pain management.
He made much of crossing a 15,000 patient registration milestone in late October, but that’s evidently grown meaningfully in recent weeks.
Beshear previously acknowledged that “it’s taken longer than we would have liked” to stand up the industry since he signed medical marijuana legalization into law in 2023.
In recognition of that delayed implementation, he signed an executive order to waive renewal fees for patients who get their cards this year so that they don’t get charged again before retailers open. And another order he signed providing protections for qualified patients who obtain medical marijuana outside of Kentucky “will stay in place.”
Beshear separately announced in May that the state had launched a new online directory that lets people see where medical cannabis dispensaries will be opening near them.
He emphasized that the state has been working to deliver access to patients “at the earliest possible date,” and that involved expediting the licensing process. Last January, the governor also ceremonially awarded the commonwealth’s first medical marijuana cards.
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Meanwhile, the governor sent a letter to Kentucky’s congressional delegation last year, “urging them to take decisive action to protect the constitutional rights of our law abiding medical cannabis patients” by repealing the federal ban on gun possession by people who use marijuana.
That came after bipartisan Kentucky senators filed legislation that similarly called on the state’s federal representatives to take corrective action, which Beshear said he supports but would like to see even more sweeping change on the federal level.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) warned Kentucky residents in 2024 that, if they choose to participate in the state’s medical marijuana program, they will be prohibited from buying or possessing firearms under federal law.
Health practitioners have been able to start assessing patients for recommendations since the beginning of last December.
While there currently aren’t any up-and-running dispensaries available to patients, Beshear has further affirmed that an executive order he signed in 2023 will stay in effect in the interim, protecting patients who possess medical cannabis purchased at out-of-state licensed retailers.
During the November 2024 election, Kentucky also saw more than 100 cities and counties approve local ordinances to allow medical cannabis businesses in their jurisdictions. The governor said the election results demonstrate that “the jury is no longer out” on the issue that is clearly supported by voters across partisan and geographical lines.
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