In a monumental move this week, Kentucky lawmakers have approved medical marijuana legalization in the key Kentucky House committee.
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Jason Nemes (R), cleared the House Judiciary Committee in a 15-1 vote on Thursday. Meanwhile, separate adult-use and medical legalization bills were filed by Democratic lawmakers last month.
“I think the debate is over with respect to whether or not medical cannabis helps people,” Nemes said at Thursday’s hearing. “I don’t think there’s anybody—even the staunchest opponents—that says that it doesn’t help some people. I think that debate is in the past.”
“This bill is no joke,” he continued. “This is a law enforcement-heavy, this is a medication-heavy bill. This is not a wink-wink nod-nod to get to recreational. I don’t want to slouch toward recreational.”
The bill, HB 136, introduced in January, would establish a relatively restrictive program, prohibiting both the home cultivation of marijuana and the smoking of cannabis flower. Whole-plant products would be allowed under the bill, but patients would be required to vaporize them.
Regulators would set many of the program’s specific rules and the program would launch in early 2023 if the legislation is approved.
Senate Floor Leader Damon Thayer (R) opposes the change and said, “I know my constituents are for it,” Thayer, who owns a whiskey distillery, said during a televised panel in January. “But this is a republic, and they elect us to go to Frankfort and make decisions on their behalf—and if they don’t like it, they can take it out on me in the next election.”.
A poll released in 2020 found that nine out of 10 Kentucky residents support legalizing medical marijuana, and almost 60 percent say cannabis should be legal under “any circumstances.”
