A Bill Legalizing Medicinal Marijuana Moving to KY House

House Bill 136 now moves to the full House for a vote on the floor.

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(Frankford, KY.) - Kentucky lawmakers voted in committee on Wednesday, February 12, to move forward on legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. The vote in the House Judiciary Committee marks the first of many steps in the very long legislative process.

House Bill 136, which is sponsored by Rep. Jason Nemes, would allow for prescriptions of medicinal use marijuana. Nemes said he brought the bill forward to help give relief to many Kentuckians suffering from conditions that could be helped by medicinal use cannabis.

Like other prescription drugs in Kentucky, tax revenue would not be collected from the sale of medical marijuana. Therefore, the state would not see a significant revenue increase because of this law.

An excise tax of 12% would be implemented for cultivators and processors for selling to dispensaries and portions of that money would go to a program to help low-income Kentucky residents be able to afford the product and 13.5% of the tax revenue going to local law enforcement.

Patients with conditions determined by a panel of eight doctors, four public advocates, and a pharmacist, would be able to receive a prescription for medical cannabis and fill it at a dispensary.

The same panel would be responsible for making recommendations for things like the definition of a 30- day supply of the medication.

Under this bill smoking of marijuana, even for medical purposes is prohibited.

The Department for Public Health would oversee the regulatory responsibility for medical marijuana and the department would have a biennial accreditation process for cannabis businesses for utilizing the continuous quality improvement standards.

There is also language in the bill related to protections for Kentucky businesses.

Medical marijuana is not covered by any form of insurance including private insurance, Medicaid, or Medicare.

There are many other aspects of the bill detailing how the medical marijuana program would work if implemented in the state.

According to a report, bill sponsor Jason Nemes asked his fellow legislators to consider what they would do if they were told by a doctor that a loved one had a condition that could be helped by the use of medical marijuana.

The bill passed with only one no vote and one pass vote. House Bill 136 now moves to the full House for a vote on the floor.