Kentucky General Assembly considers several cannabis bills

Kentucky’s 2026 legislative session is underway, and numerous cannabis-related bills have been introduced.

HB401 would improve Kentucky’s medical cannabis program by allowing patients to smoke medical cannabis in a private residence and grow three cannabis plants, while expanding qualifying conditions.

HB403 would provide some employment protections for patients. A patient who tests at five nanograms or more of THC per milliliter of blood will no longer be automatically assumed to be at fault for a workplace accident in regards to worker compensation. The burden of proof will fall on the employer to prove the employee is liable for the accident. Further, workers’ compensation claims couldn’t be denied based on test results for below five nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood.

Two legalization bills have been filed — HB199 (which would create a constitutional amendment to go to voters) and HB198, which would legalize possession and home cultivation without setting up a regulated market.

HB198 would legalize possession of up to one ounce of cannabis flower, five grams of concentrate, a thousand milligrams of edible products, and up to five cannabis plants. It would also legalize cannabis paraphernalia. It also includes expungement for previous cannabis violations that would be decriminalized if passed.

 Let your legislators know you want them to stop jailing cannabis consumers in 2026.

The legislature has traditionally been very resistant to legalization bills, but that can only change if voters engage with their legislators.

Medical cannabis program launches!

On March 31, 2023, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) signed medical cannabis legislation into law, making Kentucky the 38th state with a comprehensive medical cannabis law. The law took effect on January 1, 2025. The first sales began in December 2025, and the state is moving quickly to expand access across the state.

The state created a patient-friendly process to apply to become a registered medical cannabis patient. There are currently over 500 practitioners recommending cannabis in Kentucky. Dispensaries will continue to open in the coming months. You can find open and future dispensaries listed here.

Gov. Beshear also signed Executive Order #2022-798 in November 2022, which provides some protections for medical patients who buy cannabis where it is legal. In the first week of February 2026, the governor stated that he was not planning on rescinding the Executive Order until patients across the state had access and more conditions were covered by the program.

Kentucky’s medical marijuana law, SB 47, does not allow the smoking of raw cannabis, but raw cannabis for vaporization is allowed. The list of qualifying conditions includes PTSD and “chronic, severe, intractable, or debilitating pain.” It also provides for additional conditions to be approved administratively. Home cultivation is not allowed. For more details, check out MPP’s summary of the law.

Regulations were issued in Spring 2024 and are available on the Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis website.

Kentucky is one of 19 states that doesn’t even have a decriminalization law

While 31 other states have either legalized cannabis for adults or reduced the penalty for simple possession to a fine, Kentucky continues to arrest thousands of its residents every year for cannabis possession. Possessing even the smallest amount of cannabis in Kentucky carries up to 45 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $250. In addition to the trauma and disruption of an arrest, criminal records derail lives, making it very difficult to get an education, housing, jobs, and professional and occupational licensing.

Compounding the injustice, cannabis laws are unequally enforced. Half of adults acknowledge having used cannabis, but enforcement is staggeringly unequal. Kentucky also has the worst racial disparities in the nation, with an ACLU report finding Black individuals are 9.4 times as likely to be arrested for cannabis possession as white individuals, despite similar use rates.

In 2023, 2024, and 2025, Kentucky lawmakers proposed several bills to legalize cannabis, but none advanced before legislative deadlines.

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