Kenton, Boone, and Campbell counties have all passed ordinances to prohibit cannabis businesses from operating within their jurisdictions once the sale of medical marijuana becomes legal in Kentucky at the start of 2025. Still, local governments within those counties can either opt-in and allow businesses to operate or instead put the question to voters.
In total, 48 dispensary licenses, divided among 11 regions across Kentucky, will be awarded to businesses that have applied to participate in the state's medical cannabis lottery this October. Four dispensaries selected in that lottery will be allowed to operate in each region. In the Northern Kentucky region, which contains nine counties, 395 marijuana businesses have applied to receive one of those four licenses.
A marijuana safety compliance business has already received a license to begin operations since the number of those facilities is not limited by Kentucky like dispensaries and doesn't have to enter the lottery.
Many of those applicants in Northern Kentucky have applied to open in either Kenton, Boone, or Campbell county. Some municipalities have already decided to welcome the sale of cannabis and possibly become one of the first cities in the Commonwealth to be home to a dispensary, while others will wait to hear from voters on Nov. 5 before opting in.
Read more at WXVU.