New state health laws are in effect; one to regulate herbal drug kratom is in limbo due to lack of funding, Beshear says

Kentucky Capitol (Wikipedia photo)

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

A number of new state health laws took effect July 15, ranging from measures on maternal health to improved access to a commonly used allergy medication.

The General Assembly passed more than 200 bills during its 60-day session. They become law 90 days after adjournment of the legislature unless they have a defined effective date, are general appropriation bills, or are passed with an emergency clause. This year, the effective date was July 15.

Some of the health measures that are now law are:

Health Care Liability: House Bill 159, sponsored by Rep. Patrick Flannery, R-Olive Hill, protects health-care providers from criminal liability when a medical error harms a patient. The bill does not apply to harm resulting from gross negligence or wanton, willful, malicious or intentional misconduct.

Kratom: HB 293, sponsored by Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, aims to regulate kratom, an herbal drug frequently sold online and in convenience stores. The bill prohibits sales to people under 21 and provides guidelines for manufacturing and labeling the product.

This bill was included in a list of 22 laws mentioned in an April letter from Gov. Andy Beshear to legislators saying there is a lack of funding to implement them, so that puts this new law in limbo, Liam Niemeyer reports for the Kentucky Lantern.

Maternal health: Senate Bill 74, sponsored by Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, aims to support maternal and infant health and reduce the high mortality rate for mothers in Kentucky. Several sections of the bill took effect July 15, including one that will provide more information about breastfeeding and safe sleep to at-risk parents. Others establish a state maternal-fatality review team and require Medicaid to cover lactation consulting, breastfeeding equipment, and in-home and telehealth services. The bill also requires state health officials to compile an annual report about the number and types of delivery procedures performed at each hospital. Other sections of the bill will not take effect until 2025. This bill includes the “Momnibus” bill, which was originally filed as HB10 by Moser.

Medical cannabis: HB 829, sponsored by Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, updates some aspects of Kentucky’s upcoming medical cannabis program. It allows schools to ban medical cannabis from their campuses and allow local governments to apply a small fee to the program, among other changes. Three sections of the bill related to applications for business licenses, state enforcement and patient pamphlets will not take effect until 2025.

Pseudoephedrine: HB 386, sponsored by Rep. Robert Duvall, R-Bowling Green, eases purchase limits on pseudoephedrine to help people with chronic allergies legally obtain enough of the medication to meet their medical needs.

Vaping in schools: HB 142, sponsored by Rep. Mark Hart, R-Falmouth, bans all tobacco, alternative nicotine and vapor products in Kentucky public schools. It also requires school districts to adopt disciplinary procedures for students who violate the bans.

Veteran suicide prevention: Under HB 30, sponsored by Rep. Michael Meredith, R-Oakland, the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs will create a suicide prevention program for service members, veterans and their families.

Youth medical records: HB 174, sponsored by Rep. Rebecca Raymer, R-Morgantown, stipulates that parents have access to their child’s medical records. Prior to this law, children ages 13 and older had to sign a waiver for parents to have access.

Alzheimer's education: HB 459, sponsored by Moser, requires advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants who primarily work with Kentuckians ages 50 years and older to undergo continuing education related to the detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. This language was added from SB 211, sponsored by Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, in the final days of the session. The bill also involves the APRN national certification exam and Kentucky Board of Nursing appointments.

News releases from the Legislative Research Commission contributed to this story.

State accepting applications for medical-cannabis licensing lottery and prescribing authority; patient cards not available until Jan. 1

Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, and Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris,
discussed medical cannabis legislation before a committee in March.
(Photo by Legislative Research Commission Public Information)

By Sarah Ladd
Kentucky Lantern

Kentuckians can now begin applying for a cannabis business license, and medical providers can apply to the state Board of Medical Licensure and Board of Nursing for authority to write cannabis prescriptions.

This is thanks to a bipartisan House Bill 829 that became law during this year’s legislative session and moved up the medical cannabis timeline from January 2025 to July 1. In 2023, the legislature legalized medical marijuana for Kentuckians suffering from specified chronic illnesses.

Patients who qualify — with a history of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cancer or other approved medical conditions — still won’t be able to apply for cannabis cards until Jan. 1.

Applications for dispensers and cultivators will remain open until Aug. 31. A limited number of licenses will be awarded, and winners will be chosen in a regional lottery system. The state will award 48 licenses to dispensaries in 11 regions, 10 to processors and 16 to cultivators.

Lottery winners are expected to be announced in October, Gov. Andy Beshear has said. Filling the applications via lottery, Beshear said in April, is a way to keep the process more equitable.

“It creates a more fair process,” he said. “Not one where people bid against each other and only then the big companies can be a part of it.”

Applicants will be required to pay an application fee and provide documentation including business history, operating plans and financial information.

“The program is focused on ensuring cannabis business licensing is fair, transparent and customer-service oriented,” Sam Flynn, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis, said in a statement.

Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, the primary sponsor of HB 829, said the new timeline is “the culmination of a long effort to provide for the safe use of medical marijuana to provide relief to Kentuckians suffering from pain and disease.”

“We’re taking the regulatory process seriously,” Nemes said, “and looking forward to seeing it move forward.”

For more information on applying, visit this website.

Cannabis users are at increased risk of severe Covid, study finds

Intensive care (Photo by Matt Miller, Washington University)

Kentucky Health News

Use of cannabis, commonly called marijuana, is linked to increased risk of serious illness for those with Covid-19. So says a study in the American Medical Association journal JAMA Network Open by researchers at the Washington University in St. Louis.

“There’s this sense among the public that cannabis is safe to use, that it’s not as bad for your health as smoking or drinking, that it may even be good for you,” Dr. Li-Shiun Chen, a professor of psychiatry and senior author of the study, said in a university news release.

“I think that’s because there hasn’t been as much research on the health effects of cannabis as compared to tobacco or alcohol. What we found is that cannabis use is not harmless in the context of Covid-19. People who reported . . . current cannabis use, at any frequency, were more likely to require hospitalization and intensive care than those who did not use cannabis.”

Cannabis use differed from tobacco smoking in one key measurement: survival. While smokers were significantly more likely to die of Covid-19 than nonsmokers — a finding that fits with numerous other studies — the same was not true of cannabis users, the news release said.

“The independent effect of cannabis is similar to the independent effect of tobacco regarding the risk of hospitalization and intensive care,” Chen said. “For the risk of death, tobacco risk is clear but more evidence is needed for cannabis.”

The researchers analyzed the health records of 72,501 people seen for Covid-19 at BJC HealthCare hospitals and clinics in Missouri and Illinois during the first two years of the pandemic. They "found that people who reported using any form of cannabis at least once in the year before developing Covid-19 were significantly more likely to need hospitalization and intensive care than were people with no such history," the release says. "This elevated risk of severe illness was on par with that from smoking."

The records contained demographic characteristics; medical conditions; use of substances including tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and vaping; and hospitalization, admittance to an intensive-care unit, and survival.

"Covid-19 patients who reported that they had used cannabis in the previous year were 80% more likely to be hospitalized and 27% more likely to be admitted to the ICU than patients who had not used cannabis, after taking into account tobacco smoking, vaccination, other health conditions, date of diagnosis, and demographic factors," the release says. "For comparison, tobacco smokers with Covid-19 were 72% more likely to be hospitalized and 22% more likely to require intensive care than were nonsmokers, after adjusting for other factors. These results contradict some other research suggesting that cannabis may help the body fight off viral diseases such as Covid-19.

Chen said, “Most of the evidence suggesting that cannabis is good for you comes from studies in cells or animals. The advantage of our study is that it is in people and uses real-world health-care data collected across multiple sites over an extended time period. All the outcomes were verified: hospitalization, ICU stay, death. Using this data set, we were able to confirm the well-established effects of smoking, which suggests that the data are reliable.”

The release says, "The study was not designed to answer the question of why cannabis use might make Covid-19 worse. One possibility is that inhaling marijuana smoke injures delicate lung tissue and makes it more vulnerable to infection, in much the same way that tobacco smoke causes lung damage that puts people at risk of pneumonia, the researchers said. That isn’t to say that taking edibles would be safer than smoking joints. It is also possible that cannabis, which is known to suppress the immune system, undermines the body’s ability to fight off viral infections no matter how it is consumed, the researchers noted."

“We just don’t know whether edibles are safer,” said first author Nicholas Griffith, MD, a medical resident at Washington University, who was a medical student therev when he led the study. “People were asked a yes-or-no question: ‘Have you used cannabis in the past year?’ That gave us enough information to establish that if you use cannabis, your health-care journey will be different, but we can’t know how much cannabis you have to use, or whether it makes a difference whether you smoke it or eat edibles. Those are questions we’d really like the answers to. I hope this study opens the door to more research on the health effects of cannabis.”

Vape retailers and hemp association file suit to block new law that limits sale of vape products to those approved by the FDA

Only vaping products authorized or pending approval by
the FDA can be sold in Kentucky as of Jan. 1. (Getty Images photo)

By Sarah Ladd
Kentucky Lantern

Four vape shops, the Kentucky Vaping Retailers Association and the Kentucky Hemp Association have filed suit in Franklin Circuit Court seeking to strike down a new state law outlawing the sale of some of their products.

Greg Troutman, a lawyer for the Kentucky Smoke Free Association, which represents vape retailers, said he’s “hoping that we can get a resolution to this well before” the law is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

The lawsuit, which was filed Friday, argues that House Bill 11’s definitions of “vapor products” and “other substances” lump electronic cigarettes and vapable hemp and marijuana products together, making it too broad and arbitrary to satisfy the state constitution.

It also violates due process by requiring retailers to comply with a nonexistent regulatory process for hemp and other non-nicotine products, Troutman said.

Retailers will be subject to fines and penalties for selling vapable hemp-derived products once the law takes effect, the lawsuit says.

HB 11’s backers tout the bill as a way to curb underage vaping by limiting sales to “authorized products” or those that have “a safe harbor certification” based on their status with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The bill was backed by Altria, the country’s largest manufacturer of cigarettes, which also markets FDA-approved vape products. Altria has spent more than $500,000 lobbying the legislature since January 2022, according to records filed with the Legislative Ethics Commission.

The suit alleges that the new law requires FDA approval for products that cannot possibly win FDA approval because the FDA has no regulatory process for them, such as those containing amanita muscaria (a mushroom) and hemp-derived products. The law would also apply to vapable marijuana products set to become available in Kentucky 2025 under a law the legislature passed last year, the lawsuit says.

“Unless the manufacturers are making a therapeutic claim — that is, they’re intended to cure, treat, mitigate disease — they’re not subject to an FDA regulatory process,” Troutman said. “So how can you condition market approval in Kentucky upon complying with a nonexistent process? That is absolutely Kafkaesque.”

In 2009, Congress required the FDA to regulate tobacco products to “protect the public health of the U.S. population and create a healthier future.” The FDA began regulating “electronic nicotine delivery systems” — e-cigarettes — under that authority in 2016.

The suit also alleges the new law violates a provision in the state constitution limiting laws to one subject. HB 11 is titled an “Act relating to nicotine products” but applies to non-nicotine vaping products such as those derived from hemp, the lawsuit says.

The defendants are Allyson Taylor, in her capacity as commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Secretary of State Michael Adams.

In the final days of the session, lawmakers merged HB 11 with Senate Bill 344, which created an e-cigarette registry. Gov. Andy Beshear signed the combined bill  into law April 5. Some advocates fear it could force more people back to traditional cigarettes, which are worse for bodily health than vaping.

Vape-store owners also testified the law could create a monopoly for big retailers and hurt small businesses.

A spokeswoman for House Republicans said Tuesday that she could not comment on pending litigation, but believes “the legislature’s efforts to keep potentially dangerous e-cigarettes out of the hands of our children will stand the test.”

Tobacco use can lead to all sorts of health problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They include cancer, diabetes, heart disease and more. Nicotine is the addictive chemical in tobacco and can harm the developing brain, the CDC says.

Lottery system will determine who gets 48 licenses for retailers and 10 for processors of medical cannabis in 11 Kentucky regions

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Gov. Andy Beshear gave an update on the medical cannabis licensing program Thursday, after signing this year's medical cannabis bill into law the day before.

"We have worked hard to create a safe system that limits or eliminates abuse while still providing relief to that veteran suffering from PTSD or individual suffering from unbearable epileptic seizure after epileptic seizure," Beshear said during his weekly news conference.

Rep. Jason Nemes presents Senate changes to HB 829
on the House floor Monday, April 15. (Legislative photo)

House Bill 829, sponsored by Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, has been described as a "clean-up" bill for Senate Bill 47, the measure that legalized medical cannabis during the 2023 session under the sponsorship of Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris. 

"In essence, all 829 does is set up the Office of Medical Cannabis and carries out the provisions of SB 47 as was passed last year," West said while presenting the bill on the Senate floor.

The final version of HB 829 will allow Kentucky to start issuing medical cannabis licenses to businesses in July in hopes that the product will be available to dispensaries in January 2025, when the program is set to go into effect. 

“It does allow these businesses — the growers especially — to get up and running, start growing product so there's actually something there to sell January 1,” West explained at the April 12 meeting of the Senate State and Local Government Committee.

It also allows cities to opt out of the medical cannabis program before Jan. 1, 2025, even if a licensee has been approved before that date. 

"Cities and counties have the opportunity to take a local vote. They can also pass ordinances that prohibit implementation," West said while presenting the bill on the Senate floor. "If someone is licensed before that time, it's buyer beware; they will have to take that into account as they apply for the license."

On Thursday, April 18, Beshear and Sam Flynn, executive director of the Kentucky Medical Cannabis Program in the state health cabinet described how the licensing would work under a regulation filed that day.

The new regulation will allow businesses to apply for a cannabis business license from July 1 through Aug. 31. Beshear said 10 licenses will be available across the state for processors, and 48 for dispensaries, the retail outlets. All their cannabis must be cultivated, processed and produced in Kentucky.

Flynn said the program has created 11 licensing regions to ensure Kentuckians with qualifying conditions have access to the product.

Beshear also announced that the state, in partnership with the Kentucky Lottery Corp., will issue the medical cannabis licenses using a lottery system. The first lottery will be held in October.

"This is what states are moving towards," said Beshear. "It reduces or eliminates litigation and it creates a more fair process, not one where people bid against each other and only then the big companies can be a part of it, but one that provides at least a chance for everyone who can meet the criteria." 

Flynn said the licensing process is designed to ensure that the industry is "stable and sustainable" with a focus on "small business" and meeting demand from people who have cards enabling them to buy medical cannabis.  

And, he said, each region will have at least four dispensary licenses available per region, with no more than one dispensary located in each county, with the exception of the state's two largest counties - Jefferson and Fayette - which are allowed two each. 

HB 829 also allows public and private schools to opt out of the program and requires public school boards to establish medical-cannabis policies by Dec. 1. The policies must prohibit the use of medicinal cannabis on school property, or allow use with several options for administration.

The legislature did not expand the list of conditions that would make Kentucky residents eligible for medical cannabis beyond what was allowed in HB 47. In January, Beshear asked lawmakers to add 15 more medical conditions to the list, and West filed a bill to increase the list from seven to 21 conditions. West's SB 337 died in its assigned Senate committee, having never been called up for a hearing. 

The eligible conditions in the current law, passed by the legislature in 2023, are cancer, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms or spasticity, chronic pain, epilepsy, chronic nausea and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Medical-cannabis 'cleanup' bill passes House; critics disappointed more qualifying conditions not added and say it increases hurdles

By Melissa Patrick

Kentucky Health News

In what the sponsor calls a bill to "clean some things up," more restrictions are being added to the state's medical-marijuana law and provisions were added to allow local school districts to opt out.

State Rep. Jason Nemes

One of the key provisions in House Bill 829, sponsored by Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, would allow public and private schools to opt out of the program.

Public school boards are required to establish policies related to the use of medical cannabis no later than Dec. 1, 2024. The policies must either prohibit the use of medicinal cannabis on school property, or permit the use with several options for administration, as outlined in the bill. 

The measure would also allow local governments to apply a small local fee to compensate for any additional costs caused by the operation of cannabis businesses; prioritize Kentucky hemp businesses for state contracting; and clarify the powers that the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services has when it comes to inspection. 

It would also abolish the provisional license, which allows someone who makes an application for a license to sell medical marijuana to get the product while the application is pending. Nemes said this "put the cart before the horse."

When the House passed the bill 66-30 on March 12, it allowed the state to move the dates up for licensing, which would allow product to be obtained when the program starts Jan. 1, 2025. 

A floor amendment, filed at the request of the Kentucky League of Cities, was approved to allow cities to be able to opt out of the medical cannabis program before Jan. 1, 2025, even if a licensee had been approved before that date.

The committee substitute for the bill would require a patient to consult with a pharmacist annually to make sure the medical cannabis does not have a negative interaction with the patient's other prescriptions.

That  prompted several Democrats to object in the floor debate, saying the new requirement , with a potential cost of up to $40, imposes another hurdle in accessing medical cannabis.

"It seems like we're adding even more hurdles to make this medicine harder to receive, more expensive for folks to access. . . . I really wish we were back here today to make this medicine more accessible to the people of Kentucky who have been asking us to do this for years," said Rep. Rachel Roberts, D-Newport. 

Rep. Rachel Roarx, D-Louisville, said allowing public school districts to opt out "puts barriers in place" for students who benefit from medical cannabis for conditions such as epilepsy. 

Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon, disagreed and supported the opt-out provision for schools, saying that he recognizes the need for this because some schools are concerned about the liability of administering a drug that is not authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  

Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson, D-Lexington, said she was disappointed that the bill wouldn't expand the list of qualifying conditions that could be treated with medical cannabis, as was recommended by at "statutory advisory board of doctors and nurses appointed by the state licensing boards."

Stevenson said she hoped these conditions would be added in the Senate, where the bill has not been assigned to a committee.

Impact of cannabis use during pregnancy is the focus of UK Cannabis Center's next online seminar, to be held Feb. 26

Kelly Young-Wolff (Tyson School of Medicine photo)

The University of Kentucky Cannabis Center is sponsoring an online seminar titled  “Cannabis Use During Pregnancy: Research from Policy to Practice" on Feb. 26. The seminar will be held via Zoom from 2-3 p.m.  Click here to register. 

The seminar is part of the center's series featuring national and international experts on cannabis science, according to a news release.  

It will feature the work of  Kelly Young-Wolff, a licensed clinical psychologist and research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. She is an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, a consulting assistant professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and a professor at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine.

Young-Wolff’s research focuses on substance use, focusing specifically on cannabis use among pregnant persons and the impact of changes in local, state and national policy.

“We are honored for Dr. Young-Wolff to share her scientific expertise with our research community here at UK,” said Shanna Babalonis, UK Cannabis Center director. “As the cannabis landscape continues to change in Kentucky and the country, it is critically important to have valuable insights on beneficial health effects and associated risks. We look forward to learning more about Dr. Young-Wolff’s contributions to this field and to better understand the impact of prenatal exposure to cannabis.”

The UK Cannabis Center, based in the UK College of Medicine’s Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, conducts research on the health effects of cannabis, including its risks and benefits when used to treat certain medical conditions. It was established in 2022 by the General Assembly.  Click here to learn more about upcoming events from the UK Cannabis Center.

Beshear wants 15 medical conditions added to medical-cannabis law, but key legislators say now isn't the time to do that

Conditions in white are authorized by the state law that takes effect in 2025; those in green or yellow are also authorized by Gov. Andy Beshear's order, issued under his pardon power over a year ago.

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Gov. Andy Beshear wants 15 more health conditions to be added to the list of qualifying conditions in the state's legislatively authorized medical-marijuana program, set to take effect in 2025.

Beshear said Thursday that he was making this recommendation along with the Board of Physicians and Advisors and the Team Kentucky Medical Cannabis Workgroup, which on Dec. 21 sent separate letters to legislative leaders recommending the changes be made in the 2024 session.

The list of recommended qualifying conditions should include ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Chron’s disease, sickle cell anemia, cachexia or wasting syndrome, neuropathies, severe arthritis, fibromyalgia, muscular dystrophy, Huntington’s disease, HIV, AIDS, glaucoma and terminal illness. And, he said, one of the groups has recommended hepatitis C to be added to that list. 

"They are included in most other states' programs, they are very serious conditions that we believe, but more importantly, these medical groups and advisory groups all unanimously agree should become a part of the program," Beshear said Thursday at his weekly press conference. 

The eligible conditions in the current law, passed by the legislature in 2023, are cancer, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms or spasticity, chronic pain, epilepsy, chronic nausea and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Expanding the list would allow an estimated 437,000 more Kentuckians to benefit from the program, said Beshear.

"This is 437,000 Kentuckians that are suffering from or dealing with the conditions that we just showed up there that are not currently eligible, very serious conditions that would then become eligible for this program," he said. 

However, key legislators told Bruce Schreiner of The Associated Press that the request to expand the number of eligible conditions in the program would have trouble getting out of wither legislative chamber.

Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, told AP that in passing his bill to legalize medical cannabis for some conditions in 2023, the lawmakers "went back and forth" before reaching consensus on which conditions would qualify. 

“I think there will be much consternation if we start tinkering with the list of conditions it covers,” West told Schreiner.

Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, a long-time supporter of medical cannabis, agreed.  "I don't think now is the time to make those adjustments," he told Schreiner. 

Beshear and Sam Flynn, executive director of the Kentucky Medical Cannabis Program, said they were talking to legislators  about some of the technical changes needed in the bill and their request to add the additionally recommended qualifying conditions. 

"We've had some productive conversations, particularly with . . . Senator West," said Flynn. "We feel really good about those conversations. As the governor mentioned, there are some some technical changes that we're looking for Senator West and others to take a look at, as well as now expanding the the qualifying conditions based on the recommendations made by both the Board of Physicians and Advisors and the Team Kentucky Medical Cannabis Workgroup." 

Beshear added that the law gives the Kentucky Cannabis Center at the University of Kentucky unilateral power to add conditions, but "They've told us that they don't want to do it." 

"And, if that's the case, we need to make a change in the law," he said. "Now, their position might change. It's the legislative session, and they'll have to look at legislators and say that they've told us they don't want to do it. So we want to make sure that we're transparent about . . . things that they can add while they're here or the legislature can empower a different group. They created that group of doctors and other medical professionals that have suggested this. I mean, our recommendation to them is give that group the power to expand. I mean, that's both under the legislation they created, they created how the board is made up and that will seem like a logical place to go." 

In November 2022, Beshear issued an executive order allowing Kentuckians who meet a detailed set of requirements to possess up to 8 ounces of marijuana for medical use. The drug must to be bought in a state where sale of cannabis is legal, and the person needs the receipt and a certification from a health-care provider saying that they have at least one of 21 specific conditions. Beshear's order is in the form of an advance, conditional pardon.

Beshear said Thusday his administration has 10 new regulations to say how medical-cannabis businesses, including cultivators, processors, producers, dispensaries and safety-compliance facilities, will operate in the state. 

“These regulations will ensure that Kentucky’s medical cannabis program is safe and accessible for all patients and to make sure that they are secure for our communities,” he said.

The governor also announced a partnership with Tyler Technologies and Metric to help establish the medical cannabis electronic monitoring system and patient/caregiver registry. And, he said, the state has launched an online zoning tool to help medical cannabis businesses determine where they can operate. 

Marijuana is often used during pregnancy, but it can get the child off to a lower-than-average start on development and health

Image from Nexstar Media

Users and sellers of marijuana may suggest that expectant mothers use it to alleviate side effects of pregnancy, especially morning sickness, and research has found that it is the drug most commonly used during pregnancy. But other research increasingly shows "adverse outcomes for children when cannabinoids are consumed during pregnancy," says a study published in Frontiers in Pediatrics.

"Even with marijuana use limited to the first trimester of pregnancy, we demonstrate a noteworthy average reduction in birth weight of over 150 grams," more than 5 ounces, said Dr. Beth Bailey, director of population health research at Central Michigan University and senior author of the study. "Furthermore, if marijuana use persisted into the second trimester, a significant decrease in newborn head circumference was observed."

That matters, said Dr. Phoebe Dodge, the study's first author: "Newborn size serves as a robust indicator of future child health and development."

Other studies "have provided compelling evidence regarding the substantial impact of cannabis use on newborn size," the journal reports. "The most pronounced deficits in size were observed among infants exposed to marijuana throughout the entire gestational period," Bailey said. "Infants exposed to cannabis throughout pregnancy exhibited a reduction in birth weight of approximately 200 grams and a decrease in head circumference of nearly 1 centimeter," just under 0.4 inch.

"The research revealed that even occasional use, such as for managing first-trimester morning sickness, can lead to reduced fetal growth similar to the effects seen with continued cannabis use throughout pregnancy," the journal reports. 

That said, the study authors didn't know just how much or how often the participants used marijuana, just whether or not they did at all So, they could not "establish a direct correlation between heavy cannabis use and more pronounced outcomes in newborn growth," the journal reported.

But Dodge emphasized, "The best course of action is for women to be advised to cease marijuana use prior to conception." If you're already become pregnant, "The second-best option is to quit as soon as possible in order to mitigate potential long-term adverse health and developmental consequences."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more information.

UK's new Cannabis Center funds four research studies; two will look at marijuana use by pregnant women and cancer patients

UK faculty with cannabis research grants (clockwise from top left): Kristin Ashford, Jay Christian, Jayani Jayawardhana and Caroline Weber. (Photos provided)

By Lindsay Travis

University of Kentucky

Kentucky's recently established center for cannabis research has awarded its first set of faculty pilot grants to support innovative and collaborative cannabis research.

The University of Kentucky Cannabis Center conducts research on the health effects of cannabis, including its risks and benefits when used to treat certain medical conditions. The state leguislature established it just over a year ago, and gave it $2 million through June 2024.

The researchers are in the College of Nursing, College of Public Health, College of Pharmacy and the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration. Awards of $75,000 to $100,000 will fund studies for 14 months.

“We are excited for this opportunity to expand and accelerate cannabis science at UK and conduct studies focused on the public health impacts of cannabis that can directly affect the lives of Kentuckians,” said Shanna Babalonis, Ph.D., director of the Cannabis Center. “We have talented and dedicated researchers across a range of disciplines right here on campus who can contribute meaningful science to the center from multiple perspectives.”

The research will help educate medical providers, legislators and citizens on the risks and benefits of the use of cannabis and cannabinoids as Kentucky implements new medical marijuana legislation. Here are details on the projects:

Perinatal Cannabis: Perceptions, Use Patterns and Policy Implications: Kristin Ashford, associate dean of undergraduate programs and policy, the Good Samaritan Endowed Chair for Community Nursing, and director of the Perinatal Research and Wellness Center, will examine cannabis use during pregnancy.

As cannabis use increases, it places mothers and fetuses at risk for complications as well as long-term developmental harm for infants. Ashford will study the perceptions of safety and acceptability for cannabis use among pregnant women over the last five years in Central Kentucky.

“We want to know what pregnant women think, feel and do when it comes to using cannabis, in order to give our legislators, health care providers and expectant mothers a better understanding of how to improve the health of women and children in Kentucky,” said Ashford.

Population-based Survey of Cannabis Use among Cancer Patients in Kentucky: Jay Christian, an associate professor in the public-health college's Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, will explore cannabis use among Kentucky cancer patients and survivors.

Through a survey of users, Christian aims to better understand the prevalence of cannabis use, which methods patients are using (smoking, vaping, eating), and how they are obtaining it. His research team is also interested in learning which symptoms patients are treating with cannabis and how effective they find it.

“Cannabis laws around the country, including in Kentucky, are changing rapidly,” said Christian. “To determine the effect of legal medical cannabis, it’s important to know how people have been using it both before and after the law changes. This study is a first step in helping us to assess the effects of Kentucky’s new medical cannabis law on cancer patients and survivors.”

Christian is teaming up with researchers at the Patient-Oriented and Population Sciences Shared Resource Facility at the UK Markey Cancer Center, UK Radiation Oncology and the departments of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences for the project, along with experts at the Kentucky Cancer Registry.

Impact of Cannabis Laws on Opioid and Benzodiazepine Prescriptions and Associated Health Outcomes in Older Adults: “Cannabis use among older adults is increasing at a faster pace due to the legalization of medical and recreational cannabis by various states, and there is suggested evidence of substitutional effects of cannabis for the treatment of chronic pain and anxiety,” said Jayani Jayawardhana, an associate professor in the public-health college's Department of Health Management and Policy.

Opioids and benzodiazepines are commonly prescribed medications for chronic pain, anxiety and sleep disorders, which are more prevalent among older adults.

Jayawardhana’s study will ultimately help inform the varying effects of different types of cannabis laws on the effectiveness in reducing those specific prescriptions and associated adverse health outcomes, like opioid use disorder or benzodiazepine use disorder.

Her team of researchers in the College of Pharmacy will also track various demographic characteristics to understand who is preferentially affected by different types of cannabis laws.

The Evolution of Cannabis Consumption: Evidence from Traffic Fatalities: Caroline Weber, an associate professor in the Martin School, will study the changes in cannabis use by examining traffic-fatality records.

“The rapid expansion of recreational cannabis access in the U.S. has drastically increased legal recreational cannabis consumption,” said Weber. “However, increased legal consumption likely coincides with a decrease in black-market and medical cannabis; hence, it's theoretically ambiguous how much overall cannabis consumption has changed.”

Weber will construct a proxy for cannabis consumption using blood-THC tests in traffic-fatality records and compare this measure with existing usage measures. Her team will then use their new proxy to more precisely estimate consumption changes in response to recreational and medical cannabis legalization.

Bill to legalize medical marijuana for some in 2025 becomes law

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear shows his signature on the cannabis bill to state Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, as legislators of both parties and others look on. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

After years of failed attempts, on the last day of the 2023 legislative session legislators passed a bill to legalize medical marijuana for people meeting certain qualifications in 2025, and Gov. Andy Beshear quickly signed it into law.

"Senate Bill 47 is probably one of the most vetted bills in the history of the General Assembly, going through numerous committees, being worked and reworked numerous times," bill sponsor Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, said at the bill signing. "And I'm proud to be a part of that effort." 

House Majority Whip Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, who carried this bill for many years in the House, said he was "filled with emotion" as he noted the thousands of Kentuckians who will benefit from this bill. 

"We walk through the hallway --  Senator West, as you know -- in Frankfort and we hear so many people who whisper to us  'Please fight for us' because they don't want to be felons, they want to do right," he said. "This is such a good bill because there will be tens of thousands of Kentuckians who will never know our names, who will never walk these halls but will be helped. And so I'm happy to have played a small part in that. When the governor signs this bill and it becomes law -- what a glorious day it is." 

Eric Crawford, a longtime medical marijuana advocate, expressed a similar sentiment at a House committee that was held on the same day that it passed out of the House. 

“We need your help to make us be safer, so we don’t have to use all these pharmaceuticals and opioids," he said. “Help us not be criminals. Let’s legalize this for sick people.”

Senate Bill 47 passed the Senate 26-11 on March 16 and the House 66-33 on March 30.

The passage of SB 47 follows executive action taken last year by Beshear to use his pardon power to allow people with 21 specified medical conditions and a doctor's certificate to possess up to eight ounces of marijuana bought legally in another state. (Illinois is the only adjoining state where nonresidents can legally buy cannabis.)

The bill gives the Cabinet for Health and Family Services until January 2025 to get a medical marijuana up and running. 

It does not allow medical marijuana to be smoked and requires users to be 18 or older or be a caretaker for a child.

It also only allows it to be used by people with certain "qualifying medical conditions," including all cancers regardless of the stage; chronic, severe, intractable or debilitating pain; epilepsy or any other tractable seizure disorder; multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms or spasticity; chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting syndrome that has proven resistant to other conventional medical treatments; post-traumatic stress disorder; and any other medical condition or disease for which the new Kentucky Center for Cannabis Research at the University of Kentucky determines would benefit from medicinal marijuana.

At least 37 states in the United States have already legalized medical marijuana. 

West and Nemes have stressed that the delayed effective date allows the law to be revised in the next legislative session before the program begins. One issue they have promised to address is to make it clear that schools can prohibit employees, including school nurses, from administering the product to students. 

Beshear gets bill to regulate Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol

UPDATE, March 23: Gov. Andy Beshear has signed the bill into law.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention photo

By Melissa Patrick

Kentucky Health News

In response to a court decision that deemed products containing Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol to be legal, a bill to regulate products with the substance has passed both houses of the General Assembly without dissent and has gone to Gov. Andy Beshear for final action. 

“The Kentucky hemp program is a staple for our agricultural community, but the selling and usage of unregulated THC is a danger to every Kentuckian who may use it,” Rep. Rebecca Raymer, R-Morgantown, the bill's sponsor, said in a news release. “These products have no standards for production. If someone were to purchase Delta-8, they have no way of determining if it is safe. This measure will both protect our consumers and enhance the industry.”

According to WebMD, Delta-8 THC is a naturally occurring chemical compound called a cannabinoid that's found in small traces in hemp and marijuana plants. Its chemical structure is similar to that of Delta-9 THC, the main psychoactive compound found in marijuana. Delta-8 causes a milder high than Delta-9. It can generally be purchased anywhere that sells CDB products, including gas stations, convenience stores and vape shops. 

House Bill 544, sponsored by Raymer, directs the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to begin the process of regulating Delta-8 THC and any other hemp-derived substances by Aug. 1. 

The bill also makes it illegal for people under 21 to purchase Delta-8 THC products, requires retailers to keep the products behind a counter, and sets guidelines for labeling. It establishes a testing and approval process that products must clear before they can be sold or distributed in the state.

"These are just our recommendations of what we think should be included in it, and I think the hemp industry would like to be at the table to come up with the final recommendations of maybe what the testing and the thresholds would look like," Raymer told a House committee March 9.

Kentucky Hemp Association President Katie Moyer and Commonwealth Extracts CEO John Taylor endorsed the bill at the same committee meeting.

Taylor said, "Every valid actor wants these types of regulations. It gets rid of the bad actors that make it hard to compete. It costs a lot of money to do the right thing, and when we have people making things in bathrooms and basements and barns it really makes it very hard to compete on a legitimate level." 

The Senate changed the bill to say that if a Kentucky producer is shipping a Delta-8 THC product to a state with testing requirements, the producer can defer to that state's requirements, but if shipping to a state with no testing requirements, they should abide by Kentucky's regulations. The House agreed.

Gov. Andy Beshear is expected to sign the bill. He issued an executive order in November 2022 directing the health cabinet to regulate Delta-8 THC following the court ruling in Boone County last year. His order was coupled with one using his pardon power to allow people with certain medical conditions and a doctor's certificate to possess up to 8 ounces of cannabis bought legally in another state.

Medical cannabis bill passes Senate, awaits House vote March 30

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

A bill that would make medical marijuana legal for some in Kentucky has passed the state Senate for the first time and awaits a vote in the House, which has passed two similar bills in previous legislative sessions.

Sen. Stephen West

"It is time for Kentucky to join the other 37 states in the United States that allow medical marijuana as an option for their citizens," said Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, in presenting his bill to the Senate, adding later, "It is understood that this is a very complex issue and if passed, will be a work in progress." 

Senate Bill 47 passed late Thursday night on a 26-11 vote. The House gave the bill its first of three required readings the same night, which will allow enough time for it to pass out of the House when the lawmakers return March 29 and 30.

Last year, after a House-passed bill again got no hearing in the Senate, Gov. Andy Beshear used his pardon power to allow people with 21 specified medical conditions and a doctor's certificate to possess up to eight ounces of marijuana bought legally in another state. (Illinois is the only adjoining state where nonresidents can legally buy cannabis.) Beshear signaled Thursday that he would sign the bill.

West, who said he has worked on such legislation for about five or six years, told the Senate, “This is one of those issues where you take out the ledger and you list the pros and cons. It’s a long list on both sides, but for me personally, the pros outweigh the cons.”

The 124-page bill would not allow medical marijuana to be smoked, require users to be 18 or older or be a caretaker for a child, limit supply, and not take effect until Jan. 1, 2025.

The medical marijuana would be allowed for certain "qualifying medical conditions," including all cancers regardless of the stage; chronic, severe, intractable or debilitating pain; epilepsy or any other tractable seizure disorder; multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms or spasticity; chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting syndrome that has proven resistant to other conventional medical treatments; post-traumatic stress disorder; and any other medical condition or disease for which the new Kentucky Center for Cannabis Research at the University of Kentucky determines would benefit from medicinal marijuana.

West and other lawmakers praised the advocacy of Eric and Michelle Crawford, a quadriplegic who has long searched for another option to manage his pain. They also praised the ongoing work of advocate Jamie Montalvo, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, toward getting this bill passed. 

 Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, said the Crawfords and Montalvo don't want to break the law: "These are people that are willing to work hard and make sacrifices to comply with the law. What they are looking for is a pathway forward to make sure that people can get a safe product." 

Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, said it was important to show those who are suffering from  debilitating diseases  "just a little bit of mercy" and that was why he voted yes.   

“Will this be abused by some folks?  It certainly will," he said. "But again, if we can benefit just one person, one child, I think it’s worthwhile."

Only Republicans voted against the bill: Gary Boswell of Owensboro, Danny Carroll of Benton, Donald Douglas of Nicholasville, Rick Girdler of Somerset, President Pro Tem David Givens of Greensburg, Chris McDaniel of Ryland Heights, Robby Mills of Henderson, John Schickel of Union, President Robert Stivers of Manchester, Mike Wilson of Bowling Green, and Max Wise of Campbellsville. 

Marijuana is a "scourge of the earth," Boswell said. "I urge my colleagues to vote no. If you are going to violate federal law, at least tighten up the bill to include only the critically ill." 

Douglas, a physician, said, “With the different growing techniques and the increased concentration of these chemical compounds, I’m not really convinced that this drug is safe. But we do have some research going on out there, and I really want to thank the University of Kentucky. I hope we have some other institutions doing research who will give us good information.”

Medical marijuana passes Senate committee, awaits floor vote

L-R: Eric Crawford, Jamie Montalvo, Sen. Stephen West and Chris Joffrion spoke in favor of West's medical marijuana bill in the Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee. (Legislative photo)  

By Melissa Patrick

Kentucky Health News

For the first time, a bill to legalize and regulate medical marijuana in Kentucky has cleared a Senate committee after years of the idea being stalled in the upper chamber. 

Senate Bill 47, with a committee substitute, passed out of the Senate Licensing & Occupations Committee March 14 on an 8-3 vote. Republican Sens. Donald Douglas of Nicholasville, Committee Chair John Schickel of Union, and Chris McDaniel of Ryland Heights, cast the "no" votes. 

Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer of Georgetown, a long-time opponent of medical marijuana legislation, was among those voting in favor of the bill, saying he approved its narrow focus and that his support was for "the sake of those who suffer." 

The 124-page bill, sponsored by Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, does not allow medical marijuana to be smoked, requires users to be 18 or older or be a caretaker for a child, and would not take effect until Jan. 1, 2025.

The medical marijuana would be allowed for certain "qualifying medical conditions," including all cancers regardless of stage; chronic, severe, intractable or debilitating pain; epilepsy or any other tractable seizure disorder; multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms or spasticity; chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting syndrome that has proven resistant to other conventional medical treatments; post-traumatic stress disorder; and any other medical condition or disease for which the new Kentucky Center for Cannabis Research determines would benefit from medicinal marijuana. 

Longtime advocate for medical marijuana Eric Crawford of Mason County, who has been a quadriplegic for nearly 30 years, said marijuana improves the quality of his life and that he and others who benefit from it "deserve legal access without the worry of law enforcement."  

“It allows me longevity and a better quality of life. It allows me to be a better husband, son, friend and man than a pharmaceutical route. Surely there’s nobody on this committee that thinks I’d be better off taking opioids,” he said.

Sandra Marlowe, the sister of Sen. Gex Williams, R-Verona, who is wheelchair-bound due to the debiliating and deadly disease ALS, also asked the committee members to pass the bill. 

“This disease will take my life. I ask that my days be as comfortable as possible with access to the THC tincture. That is the only thing that gives me relief. . . . Without painful cramps, I am more productive," she said. 

Thayer told the Lexington Herald-Leader on Tuesday that the bill had time to get its two required readings for a vote on the Senate floor Thursday, the final legislative day before the veto session. However, he added that he's not sure it has the Senate floor votes to get passed.

If the Senate passes the bill Thursday and gets a reading in the House, the House coulld pass it when the lawmakers return for the last two days of the session, usually reserved fro veto overrides. Medical marijuana bills have passed out of the House twice.

Two people spoke against the bill: Michael Johnson of the Family Foundation and Gene Cole of the Kentucky Ethics League/ Kentucky League on Alcohol, Gambling Problems and Substance Use Disorder. 

Johnson said the while he is sympathetic to people who have not found relief from their ailment from modern medicine,  there is "insufficient scientific evidence that marijuana is an effective pain relieving agent or that it is safe and effective as a medicine." He also called for "more research"  before it is legalized.

If you smoke pot, lay off before surgery; you could wake up early

Photo illustration from OR Management

Regular users of marijuana may need up to three times more anesthetic to keep them unconscious during surgical procedures, so they need to tell surgical personnel about it, say doctors who have studied the phenomenon. And a preliminary study suggests that cannabis users have more pain after surgery.

"Why this might be is, like anasthesia itself, something of a mystery," reports The Economist. "The problem is magnified by a growing number of Americans getting high," with recreational cannabis legal in 20 states. "A 2021 federal survey found that 18.7% of people age 12 or older had used marijuana in the past year," The Wall Street Journal reports.

"More doctors say they are asking about marijuana use—and urging honesty—before surgeries or procedures because habitual users may need more anesthesia and painkillers," the Journal reports. "It isn’t clear if the anesthesia complication is largely limited to people who use THC, the main psychoactive component of marijuana and what causes the high, or also extends to people who take cannabidiol, or CBD. The latter doesn’t produce the high that THC does and is sometimes used as a remedy for pain, sleep or anxiety. Many cannabis products such as edibles contain a combination of the two."

Published studies of the problem have been limited, mainly because federal law thwarts studies of cannabis. Studies have focused on endoscopy, a procedure in which a long tube with a lens and a light is passed down the throat to the digestive tract. A study in Ontario found that daily users of cannabis needed more profopol, a common surgical sedative, than weekly or monthly users.

"Smoking weed before surgery can make patients confused, irritable and sometimes even violent when they wake up," The Economist reports. "A working paper presented in October, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, suggests that weed can hinder recovery, too. Of the nearly 35,000 Cleveland Clinic patients assessed, those who used marijuana within 30 days of their operation experienced 14% more pain in the day after surgery and took 7% more prescription opioids to ease it." A study published in 2018 "found that cannabis users had higher pain scores and consumed 25% to 37% higher quantities of opioids compared with nonusers," The Wall Street Journal reports.

The American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine said in January that pregnant women should be discouraged from smoking cannabis, "and non-emergency surgeries should be postponed by at least two hours if the patient comes in blitzed. A slew of other new reports warn anaesthesiologists of the mounting risks," The Economist reports. "The common perception that marijuana eases nerves works against doctors. Some people seem to be getting stoned before they arrive at the hospital in order to calm themselves down. New users may be particularly likely to smoke for such a purpose. For a better experience, patients should forgo the parking-lot hit."

House sends Senate a bill to regulate Delta-8 THC as Senate prepares to give medical-marijuana bill its first hearing and vote

By Liam Niemeyer
Kentucky Lantern

After a court decision last year legalized an intoxicating compound derived from hemp, a bill to regulate Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol sped through the state House on Thursday.

Delta-8 THC can get a user “high” similar to the Delta-9 THC compound that laws use to define marijuana. Some hemp farmers have been trying to find a market for extra CBD-rich hemp by synthetically converting it into Delta-8 THC, and it’s seen growing popularity across the state being sold in edibles and vapes.

The Kentucky Hemp Association sued the state in 2021 after a series of police raids of Delta-8 THC products, arguing Delta-8 THC was made legal under a past federal Farm Bill. A Boone County circuit judge sided with the association last year, and the president of the association says it’s now advocating for “common sense rules” on the sale and production of the compound.

Katie Moyer, president, Kentucky Hemp Association

“We have sort of a Wild West situation. It’s a gray area. Delta-8 is being sold around the state, and it’s being sold in gas stations, health food stores,” KHA President Katie Moyer said. “But it’s coming from ‘who knows where.’ We’re not surely getting it from Kentucky producers who are growing it here, who we can go visit their store, their facility.”

House Bill 544, sponsored by Rep. Rebecca Raymer, R-Morgantown, was as of Wednesday a bill making technical language changes related to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The new bill language — which KHA supports — directs the cabinet to immediately begin the process of regulating Delta-8 THC and “other hemp-derived substances.”

Among the regulations the legislation directs the cabinet to develop: prohibiting anyone younger than 21 from buying or possessing Delta-8 THC products, ensuring Delta-8 THC is produced in Kentucky and is properly tested, and requiring a standard of labeling for the products.

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear issued an executive order in November 2022 directing the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to begin regulating Delta-8 THC following the Boone County ruling.

The House passed the bill 97-0 Thursday afternoon.

Speaker Pro Tem David Meade, R-Stanford, a co-sponsor, said that since Beshear issued that executive order “there has been nothing done” in regards to regulating the intoxicating compound.

“I’ve had numerous folks in our school systems and my local sheriff asking for us to do something about this issue,” Meade said. “What’s sad is that we have to do this in order to tell the governor to do the right thing and go ahead and push the regs forward.”

A spokesperson for the cabinet did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

KHA had opposed a bill last year that would have banned Delta-8 THC products, which ultimately died in the House.

Meanwhile, a bill to legalize medical marijuana in Kentucky will get its first hearing and a vote in a Senate committee Tuesday, but that is the 26th day of the 30-day legislative session, so its passage is in doubt, reports Joe Sonka of the Courier Journal. Such bills have passed the House twice.

Beshear has used his pardon power to allow people with a doctor's certification that they suffer from at least one of 21 medical conditions to possess up to eight ounces of cannabis legally purchases another state.

In first gubernatorial debate, Cameron says he could sign a medical-cannabis bill; Keck favors exceptions to abortion law

Candidates who debated, clockwise from upper left:
Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, Attorney General Daniel
Cameron, state Auditor Mike Harmon, Commissioner
of Agriculture Ryan Quarles (Spectrum News image)

By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Tuesday night that he could sign a medical-marijuana bill as governor if it law-enforcement and medical experts "can get around a framework that is responsible."

Cameron was one of four Republican candidates for governor who appeared in the first debate of the race, held in Louisville by Spectrum News, a cable-television service.

Somerset Mayor Alan Keck separated himself from the other three by saying "there should be some exceptions" to the law that bans abortion except in cases of threat to the woman's life.

When Cameron ran for attorney general four years ago he was "absolutely" against medical marijuana, Nick Storm of Kentucky Fried Politics noted in his post-debate analysis for Spectrum. Then, he was the candidate of law enforcement, but now polls show overwhelming voter support for medical cannabis, Storm noted.

Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, who came out for medical cannabis a week earlier, said whatever law the state had needs "a very narrow framework." Keck said he "came out with this policy position months ago," and said it is "another example of Kentucky lagging behind. . . . We need to get the Senate on board and get it done.”

The Senate has not taken up medical-cannabis bills that the House, also controlled by Republicans, has passed in two legislative sessions. Late last year, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear used his pardon power to allow people with a doctor's certification that they have at least one of 21 specified medical conditions to possess up to eight ounces of cannabis bought legally in another state.  

State Auditor Mike Harmon, who answered the question last, said "I'm not there yet, but I am open to discussion."

The debate did not include former United Nations ambassador Kelly Craft, who declined the invitation from Spectrum and the Jefferson County Republican Party, which co-sponsored the event.

On abortion, Cameron, Harmon and Quarles said they support the current law, but Keck said, "I struggle, candidly, with this . . . I'm absolutely pro-life . . . I do believe there should be some exceptions … there has to be consideration for the woman in the event of violent trauma to them, especially in adolescence."

Asked if they would support greater public availability of Narcan, which counteracts drug overdoses, Harmon said he would be. Cameron said local officials should make the decision, and Keck said he is "a big believer in local control." Quarles said he would have to discuss the idea with legislators, law enforcement and people in public health.

Quarles says that if elected governor, he would work with the General Assembly to legalize medical marijuana in Kentucky

Quarles spoke on the Capitol steps. (KL photo by McKenna Horsley)

By McKenna Horsley
Kentucky Lantern

Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles told reporters Tuesday he would work with the General Assembly to legalize medical marijuana if he is elected governor.

“It needs to be dialogue between a doctor and their patient, and keep big government out of it,” Quarles said, adding that patients in end-of-life care could benefit from medical marijuana, and some are already self-medicating.

Quarles touted his experience running Kentucky’s hemp-licensing program in his seven-plus years leading the state Department of Agriculture. He criticized Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s executive order on medical marijuana, saying it “muddied the water on this issue” and failed to involve Kentucky agriculture.

 
He said provisions should be made to benefit production from Kentucky farmers, including those who already grow hemp, and medical marijuana should, like other medications, be exempt from sales tax.

Beshear has said that 90% of adult Kentuckians support legalizing medical cannabis. His executive order, which took effect Jan. 1, set criteria for Kentuckians with certain medical conditions to access medical cannabis in small amounts through legal out-of-state purchases.

Quarles said that because the General Assembly was bypassed in implementing the order, doctors and patients are confused.

“As a former legislator, I feel like I have the ability to work with the General Assembly and not sue them constantly like the current governor is doing,” he said. The legislature is controlled by fellow Republicans.

When asked how he plans to get legislation like this through the Senate — where bills to legalize medical marijuana have failed in recent years — Quarles said he’s worked to get other pieces of legislation passed and will approach it with the attitude of “consensus-driven” policy-making.

“I believe that over the course of the next year, we can find common ground that gets something that works for Kentucky and again is focused on that doctor-patient relationship,” Quarles said.

Bills to legalize medical marijuana have been filed in the current legislative session, such as Senate Bill 47 from Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris.

Asked about recreational marijuana, Quarles said Tuesday’s press conference would focus only on medical use. He said products with Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol — a psychoactive ingredient similar to delta-9 THC, the active ingredient specified by federal law — should be regulated. 

Quarles said none of the other candidates are “better positioned in this race to have a conversation about what the framework would be like to help pass a responsible medical marijuana bill through the General Assembly,” but in response to a question about how this issue sets him apart from the field, he said that he’s not focused on other campaigns, only his.

“Look, there’s 12 of us in this crowded primary,” he said. “All of them are my friends. They’re going to be my friends after May 16.”

The field includes Attorney General Daniel Cameron and former United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft. Their campaigns have not responded to email questions from Kentucky Lantern about their positions on medical and recreational marijuana.

Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, another Republican running for governor, told the Bowling Green Daily News in January that medical marijuana is “a ‘common-sense solution’ for things like pain management, insomnia in veterans and children who suffer from seizures.”