Kentucky Marijuana Business Licenses
Status: In Kentucky, all individuals may possess and use CBD Hemp oil. Limited individuals with medical approval may possess CBD oil derived from marijuana.
| CBD Program | Medical Program | Recreational Program | Are Applications Open? |
| Legal | Not legal | Not legal | closed |
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Number of Kentucky Marijuana Business Licenses Licenses Available
| Dispensaries | Cultivation | Manufacturing/Processing | Transportation |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
You can read the full text of the Kentucky Marijuana Business Licenses law at: Kentucky State Legislature
Kentucky CBD Program License Guidelines
HB 124 provides:
- a patient can become a patient simply by obtaining a written order for CBD from a physician practicing at a hospital or associated clinic affiliated with a Kentucky public university having a college or school of medicine or
- one can also be a patient in Kentucky by participating in a clinical trial or in an expanded access program, in which case the patient receives a drug or substance approved for the use of those participants by the United States Food and Drug Administration
- patients may only legally obtain and possess CBD if they have been given a written order from an eligible physician
RECOMMENDED KENTUCKY MARIJUANA BUSINESS PLANS FOR MARIJUANA BUSINESS APPLICATION:
- Kentucky Marijuana Business Plan Package
- Business & Operations Plan Template
- Cultivation Plan Template
- Manufacturing/Processing Plan Template
- Environmental Plan Template
- Financial Plan Template
- Fire Safety Plan Template
- Inventory Control Plan Template
- Patient Education Plan Template
- Patient Recordkeeping Plan Template
- Product Safety Plan Template
- Security Plan Template
- Staffing Plan Template
- Suitability of Proposed Plan Template
- Transportation Plan Template
Kentucky Medical Marijuana Dispensing License Guidelines
If passed, House Bill 136 states that the Department of Alcoholic Beverage (and Cannabis) Control would issue licenses for dispensaries to acquire, possess, manufacture, deliver, transfer, transport, sell, supply, or dispense medicinal marijuana or usable marijuana to cardholders.
When applying for a license, the applicant shall submit a nonrefundable licensure application fee of one hundred dollars ($100) that will be applied to the initial licensing fee if the license is approved; otherwise it shall be retained by the department for administrative purposes. The cannabis business shall, before it begins operations, submit the initial license fee, minus the one hundred dollars ($100) application fee, to the department.
Dispensary Licenses shall have an initial licensing fee of $10,000.
No later than one (1) year after the effective date of this section, if a sufficient number of cannabis business license applications has been submitted to the department, the department shall approve and issue at least twenty-five (25) cannabis dispensary licenses and at least one (1) cannabis dispensary in each of the area development districts.
If the department determines that additional cannabis businesses are needed to meet the needs of cardholders either within an area development district or throughout the state, the department shall expand the number of cannabis business licenses issued within an area development district, city, or county and shall issue an appropriate number of cannabis business licenses to ensure that the needs of cardholders can be adequately met.
Kentucky Medical Marijuana Cultivator License Guidelines
If passed, House Bill 136 states that the Department of Alcoholic Beverage (and Cannabis) Control would issue licenses for cultivators to grow, process, and deliver medicinal marijuana to another cultivator, dispensary, processor, or safety compliance facility.
There will be three tiers of cultivators, as follows:
- A Tier I cultivator shall not exceed an indoor growth area of 2,500 square feet.
- A Tier II cultivator shall not exceed an indoor growth area of 10,000 square feet.
- A Tier III cultivator shall not exceed an indoor growth area of 25,000 square feet.
- A Tier IV cultivator shall not exceed an indoor growth area of 50,000 square feet.
When applying for a license, the applicant shall submit a nonrefundable licensure application fee of one hundred dollars ($100) that will be applied to the initial licensing fee if the license is approved; otherwise it shall be retained by the department for administrative purposes. The cannabis business shall, before it begins operations, submit the initial license fee, minus the one hundred dollars ($100) application fee, to the department.
Cultivator Licenses shall follow a three-tier structure:
- Tier I, for which the initial licensing fee shall be $5,000
- Tier II, for which the initial licensing fee shall be $10,000
- Tier III, for which the initial licensing fee shall be $25,000; and
- Tier IV, for which the initial licensing fee shall be $50,000.
No later than one (1) year after the effective date of this section, if a sufficient number of cannabis business license applications has been submitted to the department, the department shall approve and issue at least fifteen (15) cannabis cultivator licenses.
If the department determines that additional cannabis businesses are needed to meet the needs of cardholders either within an area development district or throughout the state, the department shall expand the number of cannabis business licenses issued within an area development district, city, or county and shall issue an appropriate number of cannabis business licenses to ensure that the needs of cardholders can be adequately met.
Kentucky Medical Marijuana Processor License Guidelines
If passed, House Bill 136 states that the Department of Alcoholic Beverage (and Cannabis) Control would issue licenses for processors to acquire marijuana from a cultivator in order to prepare, trim, manipulate, blend, or otherwise modify raw marijuana material, and package medicinal marijuana products for sale to a licensed dispensary.
When applying for a license, the applicant shall submit a nonrefundable licensure application fee of one hundred dollars ($100) that will be applied to the initial licensing fee if the license is approved; otherwise it shall be retained by the department for administrative purposes. The cannabis business shall, before it begins operations, submit the initial license fee, minus the one hundred dollars ($100) application fee, to the department.
Processor Licenses shall have an initial licensing fee of $20,000.
No later than one (1) year after the effective date of this section, if a sufficient number of cannabis business license applications has been submitted to the department, the department shall approve and issue at least five (5) cannabis processor licenses.
If the department determines that additional cannabis businesses are needed to meet the needs of cardholders either within an area development district or throughout the state, the department shall expand the number of cannabis business licenses issued within an area development district, city, or county and shall issue an appropriate number of cannabis business licenses to ensure that the needs of cardholders can be adequately met.
Kentucky Medical Marijuana Producer License Guidelines
If passed, House Bill 136 states that the Department of Alcoholic Beverage (and Cannabis) Control would issue licenses for producers to operate as and engage in the permitted activities of both a cultivator and processor.
When applying for a license, the applicant shall submit a nonrefundable licensure application fee of one hundred dollars ($100) that will be applied to the initial licensing fee if the license is approved; otherwise it shall be retained by the department for administrative purposes. The cannabis business shall, before it begins operations, submit the initial license fee, minus the one hundred dollars ($100) application fee, to the department.
Producer Licenses shall have an initial licensing fee of $75,000.
No later than one (1) year after the effective date of this section, if a sufficient number of cannabis business license applications has been submitted to the department, the department shall approve and issue at least five (5) cannabis processor licenses three (3) cannabis producer licenses.
If the department determines that additional cannabis businesses are needed to meet the needs of cardholders either within an area development district or throughout the state, the department shall expand the number of cannabis business licenses issued within an area development district, city, or county and shall issue an appropriate number of cannabis business licenses to ensure that the needs of cardholders can be adequately met.
Kentucky Medical Marijuana Safety Compliance Facility License Guidelines
If passed, House Bill 136 states that the Department of Alcoholic Beverage (and Cannabis) Control would issue licenses for safety compliance facilities to provide at least one (1) of the following services:
- Testing medicinal marijuana and products that contain medicinal marijuana produced in Kentucky, including testing for potency and contaminants; or
- Training cardholders and cannabis business agents.
When applying for a license, the applicant shall submit a nonrefundable licensure application fee of one hundred dollars ($100) that will be applied to the initial licensing fee if the license is approved; otherwise it shall be retained by the department for administrative purposes. The cannabis business shall, before it begins operations, submit the initial license fee, minus the one hundred dollars ($100) application fee, to the department.
Safety Compliance Facility Licenses shall have an initial licensing fee of $2,500.
If the department determines that additional cannabis businesses are needed to meet the needs of cardholders either within an area development district or throughout the state, the department shall expand the number of cannabis business licenses issued within an area development district, city, or county and shall issue an appropriate number of cannabis business licenses to ensure that the needs of cardholders can be adequately met.
The History of Kentucky Marijuana Business Licenses Marijuana
Kentucky passed SB 50 into law in 2013. This bill allowed for industrial hemp cultivation programs to begin in Kentucky. It redefined industrial hemp, making it completely unrelated to marijuana. This bill was quite important to the national hemp movement as it wasn’t until a year later that the national government enacted the 2014 Farm Bill. This national piece of legislation redefined industrial hemp on a national scale, which is why hemp products like CBD are available, at least online, in every state.
In 2014, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear also signed S.B. 124 into law, a bill intended to provide individuals suffering from intractable seizure disorders with safe, legal access to cannabidiol (CBD) derived from marijuana.
In January 2019, a bipartisan group of Kentucky lawmakers introduced House Bill 136 to legalize a medical marijuana program for the state. However, the medical marijuana legislation failed to pass before Kentucky’s 2019 General Assembly concluded on March 29, 2019.
In January 2020, a bill to legalize marijuana for medical purposes was re-filed in the Kentucky General Assembly. The bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Jason Nemes, said that support for the measure is growing and he’s optimistic it will pass this year. House Bill 136 offers a list of qualifying medical conditions for which marijuana can be prescribed, such as terminal illness and epilepsy, but doesn’t limit prescribing to those conditions and allows physicians to prescribe marijuana to their patients as long as they have a “bona fide” relationship. So far, the bill has 42 sponsors, including House Speaker David Osborne. It has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.
The Kentucky House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill February 20, 2020, that would legalize medical marijuana in Kentucky, marking significant progress for a piece of legislation that has long stalled in the legislature. House Bill 136 was approved 65-30 after more than two hours of debate and consideration of 11 floor amendments, eight of which were approved. They contained mostly minor changes. A more skeptical Senate gets the bill next. If the bill becomes law, Kentucky would be the 34th state to legalize medical marijuana.