In 2014, the Kentucky legislature passed SB 124 and revised the definition of “marijuana” under state law to create legal protection for patients who use (1) a cannabidiol (CBD) medicine pursuant to the written order of “a physician practicing at a hospital or associated clinic affiliated with a Kentucky public university having a college or school of medicine” or (2) a drug or substance approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the use of participants participating in a clinical trial or an expanded access program.

The law does not create a production or distribution model within Kentucky, so patients with a qualifying Kentucky physician’s recommendation can only obtain their medicine by traveling to a medical cannabis state that both has production of CBD medicines and would recognize a Kentucky physician’s order as valid. States that offer reciprocity for medical cannabis patients who are not residents typically require a valid medical cannabis registry ID card, which Kentucky does not currently offer.

Law

SB 124 (2014)