The Kentucky medical cannabis program is being investigated by state Auditor Allison Ball, the Associated Press reports.
Ball said will be looking specifically into the medical cannabis business license lotteries held by the Office of Medical Cannabis after several companies that were not selected for licenses lodged complaints against the licensing process.
“My office has continued to receive complaints about how the Office of Medical Cannabis administered the lottery process for awarding medical cannabis business licenses. Kentuckians should have confidence that state offices operate with transparency and integrity, and my office is committed to ensuring those standards.” — Ball, in a statement, via the AP
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) signed the state’s medical cannabis program into law in 2023, and officials awarded the program’s first cannabis business licenses throughout a series of lotteries in late 2024. Nearly 5,000 applicants applied for licenses but in the end, only several dozen were selected.
The governor had touted the lotteries as a fair licensing method for the program. However, according to a Kentucky Public Radio report, the lotteries were flooded with applications from out-of-state companies, and many of the medical cannabis licenses were ultimately awarded to out-of-state applicants. Several Kentucky-based hemp farmers and entrepreneurs have since filed complaints against the process.
Crystal Staley, a spokesperson for Gov. Beshear, told the AP “the individuals who have come forward to express ‘concerns’ went through the full [licensing] process and did not complain until after not being selected in the lottery.”
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