“When the world ends, I want to be in Kentucky, because everything happens 20 years later there.”
We are hoping that’s not true of medical cannabis in KY.
Currently, 29 states have medical and 9 have full legal, including Washington, DC.
Let that sink in for a minute. Our federal employees — including Congress and the military — can smoke pot till the cows come home with no fear of reprisal, but we taxpayers can lose everything over a toke, starting with our children.
As of 2013 in Kentucky, 78% of us want legal medical cannabis. What’s the holdup?
This year, we Kentuckians have 3 bills in the legislature: 2 for medical, HB118 and its companion bill SB166; and SB80 which is a full legalization bill. Links to all 3 bills below.
This article focuses on the medical cannabis bills.
SB118 & HB166 Highlights & Points of Interest
Thank you to Kentuckians for Medicinal Marijuana (KY4MM) for this summary!
Provides qualifying patients the choice, freedom, or liberty to try cannabis without fear of
prosecution
Creates “Department Medical Cannabis Administration” within the Public Protection Cabinet
responsible for:
- Public safety
- Administrative regulations
- Licensing of patients & caregivers
- Licensing of canna-businesses
Localities opt in to having canna-business licensing within their district
- Those opting in receive 20% of excise tax* & revenue from canna-business
licensing to be used for:- Hiring new drug recognition experts (DRE’s)
- Local enforcement of the medical cannabis law
- Science based drug rehabilitation programs
Patients must have:
- Qualifying condition
- Qualifying practitioner
- Certification from qualifying practitioner
- Approval from “Department Medical Cannabis Administration”
- Abide by rules & regulations or loose the freedom
Rules & Regs
Everyone in program must have department approved license
No public consumption, smoking or otherwise
DWI/DUI remain prohibited; funding for local DRE’s used to curb offenses
No advertising (billboards, radio, or tv)
KASPER-like program for patient consumption monitoring – KASPER tracks controlled substance prescriptions dispensed within the state
Product inventory & monitoring of canna-businesses
Practitioner cannot recommend a compassion center or vice versa
All cultivation of cannabis must be in locked enclosed facility
10mg per serving for oral consumption products
- Must have state approved identifiable mark on product
- Not resemble a recognizable product (gummy bear…)
- Must be in childproof container
- Sold in opaque containers
Why Home Grow is Critical
- Cost savings to patient
- Can grow different types for your specific needs.
- Patient can use all parts of the plant, including leaves for juicing.
- No public safety threat
- Anyone has the right to brew alcohol.
- If patient sells the cannabis they grow, patient loses the license.
- Always know what’s in it.
- Medicare and Medicaid don’t pay for this medicine.
- If federal government changes policy to not allow commercial sales, patient still has safe access to their medicine.
- If the US attorney general does go after legal cannabis, the patients can still get their medicine and continue their treatment.
- In our tightly regulated bill, the state/police know everyone who is registered to grow at home. If not registered with the state, then they are breaking the law.
- Because someone living on $850 per month can not afford dispensary prices & should not be excluded from safe access due to financial constraints.
- Because once I find what works for me, I want to know that I will always have access to it. I want to know there are no chemicals in its growth cycle, ensure that it is the cleanest medicine I can have. Many people in legal states complain that they find an amazing strain & next time they go to purchase it… It is no more.
- Home grows will not hurt the dispensary market. There will be those who don’t want to, can’t or won’t grow their own. There will be folks who want to try different strains to find what works best. There will be people who want something different for a Friday night. People who want to try an edible or different delivery method.
- Access to medicine to those who can’t afford $200+ ounces (based off IL prices) is important. Those folks are often some of the sickest.
- Also, growing plants in & of itself is therapeutic. You really can’t be stressed out when surrounded by beautiful medicine.
- Very therapeutic
- Because caregivers need to grow for all the people in their care with the above conditions/situations. I’ve got three people now on a list that I care for their CBD/THC needs. I’m expecting that to quadruple once legal.
- Because people with chronic pain conditions need to have immediate access and there is no more immediate access than home grown.
- There is no added financial burden for people that are disabled and already have minimal to no income.
- Simply put, adequate home grown pain relief is invaluable.
- Because being poor and disabled shouldn’t restrict me from growing what I need. I grow my own herb and vegetable plants in order to save money on food so why shouldn’t I grow my own medicine?
- From a market perspective, home grow puts a natural ceiling on dispensary pricing. Dispensary prices will have to stay within reason so those prices are not an incentive for people to grow. I’d rather buy but if it got too expensive, I’d grow!
- This is Kentucky, we *already* grow the best medicine in the world. California ain’t got nothin’ on these good ole boys!!
- Personal responsibility
- Individual liberty
- Property rights
2018 Bills for Medical Cannabis in KY
History & Resources
- U.S. Senator Rand Paul on cannabis
- KY4MM historical overview PP/PDF
- U.S. patent on the medical use of cannabis since 1999
- FEE: Special Interests Keeping Cannabis Illegal
- KY’s return to private prisons: wouldn’t legalization be cheaper?
- Article by David Adams, former Rand Paul campaign advisor
- Cannabis vs. pharmaceuticals during pregnancy
- Cannabis and Teen I.Q. Altho you don’t have to read it because the entire idea has been debunked! See the last link below “Teen twins and marijuana”…
- In 2017, Gallup reported that 64% of Americans want full legal cannabis
- ^ ^ ^ Including 51% of Republicans favoring full legalization! That’s progress.
- Harry Anslinger’s war on pot
- Current KY Cannabis Laws
- Whitney Westerfield statement needs documentation
- And this because it is so powerful to watch.
In 2015, U.S. Representative Thomas Massie conducted a poll in his district (the 4th) asking 3 questions:
Excellent Big Picture with John Oliver
By the way, Bree was returned to her parents after 6 weeks.
FAQs from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (drugabuse.gov)
Is marijuana a gateway drug? “…THE MAJORITY of people who use marijuana do NOT go on to use other, ‘harder’ substances.”
Drugged driving This study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about cannabis and driving says: “The more carefully controlled studies, that actually measured marijuana (THC) use by drivers rather than relying on self-report, and that had more actual control of co-variants that could bias the results, generally show reduced risk estimates or no risk associated with marijuana use (Elvik, 2013).”
Is marijuana addictive? They refer to it as “marijuana use disorder”: “People who use marijuana frequently often report irritability, mood and sleep difficulties, decreased appetite, cravings, restlessness, and/or various forms of physical discomfort that peak within the first week after quitting and last up to 2 weeks.”
Teen twins and marijuana “…the drug appeared not to be the culprit.” and “However, two recent twin studies suggest that this decline is related to other risk factors (e.g., genetics, family, and environment), not by marijuana use itself.”
*Taxing only mentioned in HB166
It needs to be decriminalized. It’s a plant god gave us for our health, for god’s sake! legalization is all about the money and control. Why not criminalize lettuce and broccoli?
Our politicians need to do their own due diligence and stop caving in to big pharma and the like.
Pro marijuana people in my home state ashland Kentucky i was born1956 at king daughter s hospital in ashland you need lawyer to draft a marijuana bill to put before the voters whatever you do make sure the lawyer puts in the bill medical marijuana bill that you grown-up to 4 to 6 marijuana plants growing marijuana is free your political leeders will not like free pot to the sick your political leeders will not like free pot thay will not have there Love money if you have to vote them OUT of office recall election and put someone in there place that will do the will of the people political leeders are crooks self serving good for what our leeders are a thorn in our flesh a pain in the ASS recall election recall election
Liberty 4 ever no political leeder will do anything that dose not benefit them we have self serving political leeders taxes taxe the poor you have all ways had the political power your vote is your people power your self serving political leeders you do not need yourself serving political leeders to do this so crying to them wont do you any good thay do not care about you or medical marijuana money is there love is money so thay can line there silk pockets and purses with our tax money thay are crooks
From one Kentucken to another do not wate your political leeders to do the will of the people it wount happen you have the power by pass your b.S political leeders and vote vote vote it in you have all the power vote medical marijuana one thing at a time let the people test the waters with medical marijuana first people vote medical marijuana first not legalization first vote vote vote you have to be smarter than your political leeders out smart them and thats not hard to do and lots of money tv ads the people who do not want this will run tv ads against you who ever has the smarter ads and money wins
I was sickened to read the provisions of the Kentucky medical marijuana bills. Why must everything be taxed and regulated to such an extent? Why does everything need a government department? I have no interest in recreational cannabis and fortunately, I have no need for medical cannabis, but why can’t we just say that prohibition was a mistake and repeal that prohibition? No taxes. No regulations. No bureaucrats and their departments. Just… liberty.
Cannabis was legal. Then it wasn’t. Now, there is a huge fight to partially restore some limited permission from our government, but with fees and taxes and regulations and regulators and licensing and selective prosecution and entirely new governmental departments…. It’s sickening. This mountain of government meddling is “freedom”? I’m not seeing the freedom. There’s too much government in the way. I don’t think this is a service to anyone who could benefit from medical cannabis. I honestly think it’d be better, at least in the short term, to keep it illegal so there would be a thriving illegal market. It’s sad when we live in a society where it’s preferable to have illegal commerce, but that is often the case in tyrannical countries with planned economies, excessive taxes and onerous regulations.
Hal and I were talking about this on the way to TBK… as libertarians, we are with you 100%. but like you we have no need and the people who do will agree to this to get their medicine. That is the ONLY reason to support this bill. They want to micromanage every morsel that goes in my mouth — and not even for my best interests. But for the highest common good which happens to be some big-campaign-contributor…
Great article! Anyone not supporting decriminalization of, at the very least, “medical” either doesn’t have the facts, or there is something more sinister going on.
Thank you! I agree 100%. xoxoxo