Kentucky awarded the first business license for its startup medical cannabis program on Thursday, selecting a laboratory that will be assigned to test the products before being offered to patients. Gov. Andy Beshear called it another step toward ensuring that Kentuckians suffering from a list of serious illnesses have access to safe products when the program launches at the start of 2025.
The first license went to KCA Labs, a hemp-testing facility operating in Nicholasville, Kentucky, he said. “I love that the first license is going to an entity that helps us do this safely,” Beshear said at a news conference in Frankfort. Kentucky will use a lottery system to award initial licenses to businesses wanting to sell, process or grow medical marijuana for patients in the Bluegrass State.
But there's no limit on the number of initial licenses being awarded to safety compliance facilities — the category that KCA Labs comes under — meaning there's no need for a lottery. These facilities will test every medical cannabis product before reaching eligible patients, guaranteeing the products are held to the highest medical standards, Beshear said Thursday. “Our mission is to ensure Kentuckians with serious medical conditions have access to safe and high-quality, tested medical cannabis products,” the governor said.
“That's exactly what KCA is going to help us do,” he added. KCA Labs is ready for the task, said Jonathan Thompson, its CEO. “KCA’s vast knowledge and exper.
