In 2023, the General Assembly passed HB 47, which established a “medical marijuana” program in Kentucky. The Family Foundation strongly opposed the passage of HB 47. The law is set to go into effect in 2025. During the 2024 legislative session, The Family Foundation successfully supported several changes to Kentucky’s medical marijuana law, including an ability for local governments to prohibit marijuana businesses from operating within their limits and the ability for schools to prohibit medical marijuana at school and during school functions.
Some local governments have already opted to prohibit marijuana businesses in their territory. However, many have opted to put the question to the voters. Voters in over 100 cities and counties around Kentucky will receive a ballot with a question on whether they want to allow marijuana businesses to operate within their city and/or county or not. For more information on your local area visit: https://kymedcan.ky.gov/local-government/Pages/ballot-resolutions.aspx.
Schools can also opt-out of the medical marijuana program. The law now requires that every school in Kentucky, public and private, must establish a medical cannabis policy before December 1, 2024. Additionally, if schools opt to allow medical marijuana, they must establish a policy to allow staff members to personally refuse to administer the marijuana for any reason. Our team has created a model medical marijuana opt-out policy for schools, especially private schools.
If your school might be interested in adopting our opt-out policy, please contact Jesse Green at [email protected] or call our office at 859-255-5400.
Click here to view and download the PDF of the print version of the Citizen paper.
