Kentucky will use a lottery system to award an initial round of licenses to businesses competing to participate in the state's startup medical cannabis program, it was announced Thursday.

Governor Beshear called it a fair way to give each applicant that clears the screening process an opportunity to land a license for the program, which launches statewide at the start of 2025.

The lottery, set for October, should remove any temptation to lobby in an effort to “get a leg up in different ways that we don’t want to see,” Beshear said at his weekly news conference.

The state initially will issue 48 medical cannabis dispensary licenses, divided among 11 regions. The goal is to ensure the shortest possible drive times for Kentuckians with qualifying health conditions, said Sam Flynn, executive director of the medical cannabis program.

Each region will be allocated at least four dispensary licenses, and counties will be limited to one dispensary with the exception of those that are home to Louisville and Lexington, which can have two licenses, Flynn said.

Limited numbers of cultivator and processor licenses will be issued.

Caps on licenses are meant to avoid flooding the market with medicinal cannabis products and exceed demand.

The program can be expanded with more businesses in the future depending on demand and whether more qualifying medical conditions are added.

On Wednesday Beshear signed legislation moving up the timeline for licensing cannabis businesses by six months, with the window for applications running from July 1 through the end of August. The change makes it likely that at least limited supplies will be available in January when they become legal, Beshear said.