The manager of a retail cannabis store in Bowling Green will soon find out if he won the lottery.
The first of two random drawings will take place Monday to award dispensary licenses under Kentucky’s emerging medical marijuana program.
Branden Patton manages Paper and Leaf in Bowling Green, which carries an array of hemp products both for health and recreational use. Since the store opened in August, Patton says he’s been shocked by the number of Fibromyalgia sufferers that have come there seeking relief.
“There’s actually a huge number of them I didn’t know existed," Patton told WKU Public Radio. "We carry a plethora of products that contain CBG, which is like the grandfather of the cannabis plant, but CBG is really good for headaches, migraines, joint and muscle pain.”
Fibromyalgia is one of nearly two dozen chronic conditions that qualify for medical cannabis once it becomes legal in Kentucky.
The owner of Paper and Leaf, Dave Keller, has filed three applications to open a dispensary in either Glasgow, Nicholasville, or Jackson.
"It will be similar to the store we currently operate where individuals come in and communicate what they're looking for, and then the associate works with them to find a product that matches," Keller explained. "The biggest difference will be product availability, where in a medical dispensary, we will be able to offer to legally offer loose flower and some other products that we currently have similar products to, but are not derived from marijuana."
Some 4,000 applications were filed for 48 dispensary licenses. Patton acknowledges the odds aren’t in his favor.
“But we’re hopeful because we do have a lot of the footing available to be able to produce those type of things," Patton stated. "There’s a lot of bad players. Just in Bowling Green, there’s over 30 stores selling prohibited products that are probably applying for this same medical license.”
Dispensary licenses will be awarded through a random drawing Monday by the Kentucky Lottery Corporation. for nine of the 11 licensing regions. The final drawing will be held on Dec.16 for the remaining two regions that include Jefferson and Fayette counties.
So far, 29 licenses have been granted to cultivators, processors, and testing labs.
Kentucky’s medical cannabis program officially begins January 1st, though the product isn’t expected to be on store shelves right away. Until then, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday his executive order, which grants a full pardon to anyone if certain conditions are met, will stand. Under the order, Kentuckians who are diagnosed with one of 21 medical conditions could be eligible to possess and use marijuana purchased legally in other states, among other stipulations.
