Beshear: next medical cannibis lottery happens Monday

During his Team Kentucky update on Thursday, Governor Beshear provided an update on the rollout of medical cannabis in the commonwealth. 

The Office of Medical Cannabis has issued 29 licenses to cultivators, safety compliance facilities and processors. Now, the office will hold lotteries on two dates for dispensary licenses. 

The first will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at the Kentucky Lottery offices in Louisville. That lottery will be for 9 of the state's 11 medical cannabis dispensary licensing regions. The selectees for the remaining 2 regions will be drawn on Dec. 16.

Back in July, Kentucky-licensed doctors and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses began applying to their licensing boards to become authorized medical cannabis practitioners. 

To date, 154 Kentucky doctors and APRNs have been authorized, and the number is growing each week.

To help Kentuckians find authorized practitioners, Team Kentucky is launching the Kentucky Medical Cannabis Practitioner Directory. 

The online directory will allow Kentucky patients to find the practitioner nearest them. The directory will be available beginning Dec. 1 at kymedcan.ky.gov.