Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signs order to partly legalize medical marijuana

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order Tuesday to legalize the possession and use of medical marijuana by certain eligible individuals in the state, so long as it was purchased legally outside Kentucky and amounts to less than eight ounces.

Kentucky is currently one of just 13 states to still outlaw marijuana for both medical and recreational purposes, despite public polling showing the legalization of medical marijuana is quite popular among its residents.

Beshear said he would have preferred the state legislature pass a law fully legalizing and regulating medical cannabis, but he was taking executive action after the repeated failure of a bill to do so in the Kentucky General Assembly.

Noting that many Kentuckians with chronic and terminal illnesses are prohibited from legally buying marijuana in the state, Beshear said those individuals “will soon be able to get the help they need without living in fear of being charged with a misdemeanor.”

When will medical cannabis be legal in Kentucky?

The executive order on medical marijuana will go into effect Jan. 1

The executive order lists 21 medical conditions that would make a Kentuckian eligible to use and possess medical marijuana, so long as a physician diagnosed the individual with the condition in a written certification. Those conditions include cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, post traumatic stress disorder, Lou Gehrig’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

[Read more at Louisville Courier Journal]