Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order Tuesday directing the Office of Medical Cannabis to issue an emergency regulation clarifying qualifying conditions for medical cannabis.
In 2023, the legislature legalized medical marijuana for Kentuckians suffering from chronic illnesses including any type or form of cancer, chronic or severe pain, epilepsy or other intractable seizure disorder; multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms, or spasticity; chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting syndrome; or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Beshear said his executive order is an answer to a “lack of clarity” in that law.
“We recognize that the state’s list of qualifying conditions can be a bit confusing. For example, some of the conditions include chronic nausea, muscle spasms, and chronic pain, which are, of themselves, not a condition but an underlying symptom of other serious medical conditions like ALS, like Crohn’s disease, like sickle cell and some terminal illnesses,” Beshear said. “These conditions might not be listed in the statute itself, but the underlying symptoms of them are right there in the wording. So, we want to make this more clear, and we want to help more people.”
According to the order, Kentuckians have access to medical cannabis if they have these additional conditions: Terminal illness, sickle cell anemia, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, HIV, AIDS, Huntington’s disease, muscular dystrophy, wasting syndrome, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, neuropathies, severe arthritis, fibromyalgia and glaucoma.
Dr. Linda McClain, a member of the Office of Medical Cannabis Board of Physicians and Advisors, said the new regulation would be “a huge step in reducing, hopefully, the patient’s confusion as to whether their diagnosis meets the current list of conditions.”
“A lot of confusion stems from the fact that multiple conditions have the same symptoms, but yet some conditions are covered and some are not,” said McClain.
Rebecca Sievers, the president of the Sickle Cell Association of Kentuckiana, said the exclusion of sickle cell in a law meant to curb opioid use represents an important gap.
“In general, the General Assembly made one of the most restrictive list of qualifying conditions in this country,” Sievers said. “The General Assembly is out of step with what other states are doing.” Sickle cell anemia is a painful genetic blood disorder.
Meanwhile, the Kentucky Cannabis Industry Association praised the move.
“What today’s action does is give patients the certainty they deserve: If your doctor has diagnosed you with one of these conditions, you already qualify,” Rachel Roberts, the executive director of the association, said in a statement. “You don’t need to wonder. You don’t need to go elsewhere. You can obtain your medical cannabis card, walk into a Kentucky-licensed dispensary and access medicine that has met our own state’s rigorous safety and testing standards.”
Read the executive order
This story may be updated.