One of the most powerful Democrats in the state House is taking a job leading an alliance of Kentucky cannabis businesses and stakeholders.
House Minority Whip Rachel Roberts, D-Newport, will lead the Kentucky Cannabis Industry Alliance starting next year, she announced in a press release Friday.
Roberts did not seek reelection in 2024.
“With the medical cannabis program set to commence, KCIA will be at the forefront of ensuring a thriving, equitable, and well-regulated cannabis industry in Kentucky. I look forward to collaborating with Gov. Andy Beshear, Office of Medical Cannabis Executive Director Sam Flynn and the Legislature to effectively implement this transformative program,” Roberts said in the release.
As whip, Roberts was third in the pecking order of leadership over the 20-member Democratic minority.
Roberts told the Herald-Leader that the alliance is meant to represent all stakeholders in the state’s budding cannabis industry.
“We anticipate that our our early membership will be the cultivators, the processors, then the testing labs and then the dispensaries as they all sort of get themselves into business, start generating revenue and are able to afford dues for such an association to see the benefit in it,” Roberts said.
The state legislature passed a bill legalizing medical marijuana in 2023, and the program begins early next year.
As a legislator, Roberts advocated for the bill, Senate Bill 47, that legalized the substance for Kentuckians suffering certain qualifying medical conditions. She also filed another bill this year that would have legalized recreational marijuana, House Bill 420; that bill was never assigned to a committee.
Business “alliances” are not uncommon in the state. Groups like the Kentucky Distillers’ Association advocate for the interests of the industry in general as opposed to one specific business.
Roberts said that the exact aims of the alliance are unclear as of yet because the board of directors has not been filled out, but guessed on what an early priority might be.
“My biggest guess would be that it would be the expansion of some of the permissible diagnoses or conditions, because Kentucky does have the most restrictive medical cannabis bill,” Roberts said. “I think everyone’s concern is ensuring that the marketplace here is tight enough and the number of licenses is not oversaturated with product or dispensaries, so that the people who have gotten licenses are able to have, you know, sustaining businesses.
“But, given how restrictive the diagnoses are right now, then there’s concern over how big the actual patient pool may be.”
The current list of qualifying medical conditions includes the following:
Any type or form of cancer;
Chronic or severe pain;
Epilepsy or other intractable seizure disorder;
Multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms, or spasticity;
Chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting syndrome; or
Post-traumatic stress disorder.
The role is not a lobbying position, Roberts said. Legislators are barred by the state ethics code from lobbying the state legislature for two years after they leave their elected roles, according to the state’s “revolving door” ethics law.
H/T: www.kentucky.com
