Kentucky’s First Medical Marijuana Sales Expected Within Weeks, Beshear Says

4 December, 2025

Kentucky’s medical cannabis program is on the verge of a visible shift. After years of debate and months of regulatory preparation, state officials say the first legal medical marijuana products are about to reach patients.

Governor Andy Beshear, who signed medical cannabis legislation into law two years ago, says the first legal sales in Kentucky should begin “within the next couple of weeks.” The law officially took effect at the start of 2025, but dispensaries have not yet been able to serve patients. That gap now appears close to closing.

Beshear reports that 48 licensed dispensaries are positioned across the commonwealth. Among them, an Ohio County dispensary in western Kentucky, near Bowling Green, is expected to be the first location with medical cannabis products on its shelves. “I believe within the next couple of weeks that our first dispensary will have product on its shelf,” he said, adding that the program is expected to “scale up very quickly from that first moment” as more locations begin operations.

The upcoming launch follows a period of behind-the-scenes work by cultivators and laboratories. In October, Beshear said that approved medical marijuana growers were preparing for their first harvests and that some labs were ready to begin testing as soon as products became available. Since then, he notes that several cultivators have completed harvests and moved into the required testing phase.

Ohio County has become an early focal point in that process. According to the governor, one of the state’s first batches of medical marijuana products is awaiting final testing there. That timing appears to support the expectation that its local dispensary will be the first to open with product ready for sale.

While the supply side has been building, patient enrollment has been growing in parallel. Nearly 24,000 Kentuckians have received electronic certifications, or e-certifications, that will allow them to purchase medical marijuana once dispensaries begin selling. These patients are essentially waiting in line with paperwork approved, ready to visit a dispensary as soon as products are available.

This dynamic may shape how the first weeks of sales feel on the ground. Patients living near Ohio County and other early-opening locations are likely to have the quickest access, while those in other parts of the state may need to travel or wait until additional dispensaries are stocked. For many, the opening of the first location will mark the moment when conversations about medical cannabis in Kentucky shift from theoretical to practical, with real products in display cases and actual transactions at the register.

From a broader perspective, Kentucky’s rollout places it among 38 states that have legalized medical marijuana. While each state’s program differs in details, the common themes of patient certification, regulated cultivation, and lab testing appear here as well. In Kentucky’s case, the timeline has included a lag between legalization, the law’s effective date, and actual dispensary openings, which may reflect the time needed to license businesses, grow product, and build out laboratory oversight.

For patients, especially those with conditions that qualify for medical cannabis, the upcoming launch may affect daily routines. Instead of traveling out of state or relying on informal sources, they will have the option to visit licensed Kentucky dispensaries once those are open. The presence of testing and safety reviews may also factor into their decisions about what products to use and how to talk about cannabis with healthcare providers.

For business owners and employees in the new industry, the shift from pre-launch preparation to real-time sales may change priorities. Retail staff will move from training and setup into patient interaction and inventory management. Cultivators that have just completed their first harvests will be able to gauge how their products perform in the market and how quickly they need to plan future planting cycles.

For people simply researching cannabis policy or the marijuana business landscape, Kentucky’s experience may serve as a case study in how a state turns legalization on paper into an operational medical market.

As the first dispensary in Ohio County opens and others begin to follow, the coming weeks and months appear likely to clarify how Kentucky’s medical cannabis system works in practice, how accessible it feels to patients, and how the network of 48 dispensaries functions across the commonwealth.