kentucky medical cannabis Archives

Kentucky Nurses Association Endorses Legalizing Medical Cannabis

July 8, 2016

The Kentucky Nurses Association has officially endorsed the legalization of medical cannabis, calling it an issue of patients’ rights.

“I hope that folks are going to see that when registered nurses say this is an important access to care issue, that folks are going to look at it as the medical and patient care issue that it is and not as a social issue,” says Maureen Keenan, executive director of the Kentucky Nurses Association, which is a state branch of the American Nurses Association (founded nearly 120 years ago in 1897).

Incoming Kentucky Governor Supports Medical Cannabis

November 9, 2015November 9, 2015

Republican Matt Bevin, who’s Kentucky’s governor-elect after beating Democrat Jack Conway by a comfortable nine-point margin, is in complete support of legalizing medical cannabis, including establishing a system that allows patients safe access to the medicine.

During a debate on October 25, Bevin said that there is ‘unequivocal medical evidence’ that cannabis has medical value, and that he supports establishing a medical cannabis program which would allow the plant to be ‘prescribed like any other prescription drug.’ Conway, Bevin’s rival and the apparent loser of the race, disagreed, saying that legalizing medical cannabis would make it easier for children to get (an argument science has continually disproven).

Kentucky House Speaker Will Soon File Medical Cannabis Legalization Bill

December 28, 2014December 26, 2014

Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo has announced that he will file a bill in the upcoming legislative session aimed at legalizing medical cannabis.

“I think it’s going to get some play this session; I don’t know how much,” says Stumbo, noting that although Kentucky lawmakers have been hesitant of legalizing medical cannabis in past sessions, the momentum for change is increasing.

As part of the upcoming bill, cannabis possession and use would be legal for those with a qualifying condition who receive a recommendation from a physician. “Compassion centers” would be established as a means of safe access to the medicine.