Kentucky medical cannabis program making progress

Heartland Medical Cannabis Health and Wellness owner, and family nurse practitioner and licensed medical cannabis practitioner, Marlena O’Neal says the opening of the state’s first medical cannabis dispensary (The Post Dispensary in Beaver Dam) this past weekend shows the progress medical cannabis continues to see in Kentucky.

“I believe that soon to follow will be Kentucky Alternative Care, which is located up on Bardstown Road in Louisville,” O’Neal said. “I know that the processors are still trying to get up and running, and those are the ones that are responsible for your products being made such as edibles and vaporization products. So right now, what we have access to would be the raw plant materials for patients.”

O’Neal says the Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis has made some streamlining changes to the application process for medical cannabis cards.

“There’s less forms,” O’Neal said. “They’re standardizing those a little bit more, and then they have their customer service number up and running for people to be able to reach out if they have any issues once they’ve applied for their card. Otherwise, the process is still pretty much the same, and we’ve been seeing a steady number of people come through for certifications.”

O’Neal says the state office has expressed openness to expanding the list of qualifying conditions, but such action is a legislative process so the focus is on getting the program up and running. State regulations require all products in the program be Kentucky-made.

O’Neal says offices like hers exist to help people through the application process.

“If you have a qualifying condition, it’s easier to get certified than you would imagine, and the major goal is making sure that someone qualifies, but also that they can safely use cannabis and they don’t have any contraindications, and we do that in one office visit,” O’Neal said.

More information, including contact information for practitioners like O’Neal, can be found at kymedcan.ky.gov.