An applicant from Fulton County was western Kentucky's only successful applicant awarded a cannabis processing license during the state's first-ever medical cannabis license lottery on Monday.
The applicant, Ice House Processing LLC, was one of ten licenses drawn to process cannabis, while 16 other applicants received the first licenses to cultivate the drug for sale in the Commonwealth. Those were drawn from 334 processor applications and 584 cultivator applications.
Gov. Andy Beshear joined the drawings at Kentucky Lottery Headquarters in Louisville. “All medical cannabis that is cultivated, processed, tested and dispensed will be done so right here in Kentucky,” Beshear said. “Today’s lottery helps ensure those medical cannabis businesses can become operational so that Kentuckians with serious medical conditions can have safe, affordable access to the health care relief and choice they deserve at the soonest possible date.”
Those applicants selected in the license lottery will have 15 days to pay their license fee to Office of Medical Cannabis. Once that fee has been paid, the office will issue a license to that business.
During the window to apply for a medical cannabis business license in July and August, there were 4,998 applications, of which 918 were cultivator and processor applicants.
A separate license lottery for dispensaries will be announced later.
Click here for the list of cultivators and processors who were randomly selected in the license lottery for cultivators and processors.
Legislation signed by Gov. Andy Beshear in 2023 will make medical cannabis legal in the commonwealth, effective Jan. 1, 2025.
