LINK nky: Kentucky cities consider medical marijuana regulations

While medical cannabis will become legal next year, local governments can pass zoning restrictions on cannabis cultivation, processing, production and dispensaries to go along with existing statewide regulations.

“Kentucky has passed a pretty comprehensive medical cannabis law,” said Keshar Ghimire, PhD, an associate professor of economics at the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College. “They have a long list of qualifying conditions.”

Among the state requirements already in place is a 1,000-foot separation between a cannabis business and an “existing school or daycare.”

“This requirement addresses the concern that [cannabis] dispensaries, when nearby, have the potential to influence minors’ attitude and/or access to marijuana,” Ghimire said. “The distance also ensures that whatever criminal and other unwanted activities that may happen near dispensaries don’t affect the school environment.”

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