Kentucky’s legislature has delivered a budget bill to the governor that includes a provision restricting funding for a medical marijuana regulatory body overseeing the state’s forthcoming program until its advisory board determines there’s a “propensity” of research supporting the therapeutic “efficacy” of cannabis.
The language represents a watered down version of what was included in the Senate budget proposal, which would have set a much stricter threshold for the availability of funding for the Office of Medical Cannabis.
A last-minute amendment that was adopted prior to passage on Thursday removed Senate-approved language that would have broadly required a “propensity of federal and international peer reviewed, published research with conclusive evidence as to the efficacy of medical cannabis” in order to fund the regulatory division.
Still, the final revised language would still impose a potential barrier to standing up Kentucky’s medical marijuana program:
“No funds shall become available until the Board of Physicians and Advisors, as defined in KRS 218B.020(2), finds there is a propensity of peer-reviewed, published research with sufficient evidence as to the efficacy of medical cannabis for the persistent reduction of symptoms of diseases and conditions.”
What constitutes a “propensity” and “sufficient evidence” seems to be subjective without explicit definitions, meaning the roughly $8 million in proposed funding for the cannabis regulatory office could be withheld without sign-off from the seven-member advisory board.
In any case, the budget legislation is now in Gov. Andy Beshear’s (D) court. He not only advocated for and signed the medical cannabis bill that’s since become law, but he’s also taken executive action to legally protect patients who possess medical cannabis purchased at out-of-state licensed retailers by exercising his unilateral authority to grant pardons to anyone who meets certain criteria.
H/T: marijuanamoment.net
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