- Kentucky residents have submitted thousands of applications for medical marijuana cards since the start of the year.
- The application process involves obtaining a certification from a licensed physician after discussing medical history and qualifying conditions.
- While the cost of the application itself is $25, physician consultation fees vary and are not covered by insurance.
- Kentucky law requires an in-person visit for the initial certification, although telehealth appointments may be possible for renewals.
Kentucky’s medical marijuana program will soon be operational, and many have already submitted applications to be cardholders.
More than 8,750 certifications have been written as of Feb 21., the Office of Medical Cannabis said to The Courier Journal in an update, with nearly 5,800 applications submitted to the office for a card since the new year. Of applications submitted, more than 5,200 have been approved.
Here’s what we know.
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How many Kentuckians are applying for medical marijuana cards?
Late February numbers from the Office of Medical Cannabis reveal that 8,780 certifications have been written for medical marijuana since Dec. 1 of last year, with numbers highest in the conditions of chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Nearly 5,800 applications for qualified patients have also been submitted, with 5,211 approved. Of 184 applications denied, 109 were due to technical issues and can be resubmitted. The rest were denied due to felony records.
Ryan Grell, medical director and owner of Kentucky Medical Marijuana Center, said his office has seen a decent amount of the total application volume for medical patients across Kentucky.
Green Health Docs founder and owner Dr. Anand Dugar said his company, a national certification service primarily operating on telehealth, currently operates 17 clinics — including six in Kentucky, with more to come — and manages 50 practitioners on staff. Each location has one to two practitioners and as of Feb. 19, they’d collectively seen around 700 patients in the commonwealth.
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Grell said when a patient enters the Kentucky Medical Marijuana Center in NuLu, the physician will talk to them about the risks and benefits of using medical marijuana, as well as “alternatives of medical cannabis, and discuss medical history and qualifying conditions the patient may have.”
The anesthesiologist has worked in the medical marijuana industry in cities like Boston and relocated to Kentucky in 2020 when he was asked to join the Office of Medical Cannabis’ Board of Physicians and Advisors. His office, unaffiliated with his board position and comprised of four physicians, had seen about 300 medical marijuana patients approved for the program as of Feb. 19.
Similar to statewide numbers, about 70% of patients visiting the NuLu office are there for chronic pain, although they’ve seen patients with all approved conditions, which includes post traumatic stress disorder, cancer and epilepsy or other seizure disorders.
“Then we’ll place the certification into the Office of Medical Cannabis’ portal,” Grell said. “At the Kentucky Medical Marijuana Center we will also help the patients to navigate the application process and finalize the application.”
Dugar with Green Health Docs said Kentucky’s program has been similar to Mississippi’s, where his company operates eight clinic locations.
“In Kentucky, the law requires that they come see a doctor in person for the first visit and that’s very much what we did in Mississippi,” he said. “For the renewal visit, it’s often done through telehealth…”
How does a doctor decide how much medical marijuana to prescribe a patient?
Grell said that while practitioners can make amendments to the certifications, most doctors aren’t further restricting a patient with limitations on amounts or on marijuana forms.
“For example, you have a patient who has very bad asthma or a pulmonary disease, you can restrict them from any sort of vaporized method of ingestion. You can just allow them to receive concentrates or infused products like an edible. You can also place limits on the total amount of medical cannabis they can receive,” Grell said. “Generally speaking, from what I’ve heard from other practitioners, no one’s really placing stricter limits than the statutes or the limits patients do.”
He continued, saying the clinic prioritizes giving “disease-specific recommendations” based on the patient’s individual needs.
“Patients can take our recommendations, they can use their own personal experience and they can take the recommendations of the dispensary employees, as well,” Grell said. “The folks in the dispensary typically are experts at this stuff. They know their products better than anyone.”
How much does a medical marijuana application and certification cost?
Application costs for a medical marijuana card are $25, according to the Office of Medical Cannabis, with additional costs of appointments and written certifications decided by the individual physician.
“Medical cannabis practitioners may set fees for appointment as they do for other kinds of appointments,” said spokesperson Kendra Steele. “That fee is not set by Kentucky law and is between the practitioner and the patient.”
Grell said the Kentucky Medical Marijuana Center charges $150 per consultation. Green Health Docs charges $200 per certification, Dugar said, with sales and coupons available at times. The company also notarizes documents for patients’ applications on-site.
“Unfortunately, with Kentucky statute, insurance companies have the option of covering medical cannabis visits and as you can imagine, there’s not a single private payer out there that has opted into covering these visits … ” Grell said. “So it’s all a cash-based business, at the moment, at least.”
Do I have to see a doctor in person to get a medical marijuana card?
Grell said those seeking a medical marijuana card are required to be in person for a first-time practitioner visits per Kentucky law, as stated in KRS Chapter 218B.050.
“I think the key thing is for people to make sure they’re going to an office in person,” he said. “If anyone is offering you a certification and you haven’t been to see them face to face before, that’s not really a valid certification and if that practice is audited … your certification may not count.”
Some businesses may offer virtual appointments through Beshear’s Executive Order No. 2022-798, which Dugar said differs from the medical program.
“There is one thing that’s a virtually only certification. It’s the executive order where the governor basically said you can legally possess cannabis in the state…” Dugar said. “That was a virtual visit. Even we did some of those virtually because at that time, there was no law about that being an in-person visit. But if you want to get into the actual real state program and buy marijuana from dispensaries in Kentucky, then you have to go through the state program and see a doctor in person.”
What are my patient rights regarding medical marijuana in Kentucky?
Leafwell Legal Operations Manager Zach Levin said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s executive order provides temporary or interim relief for those seeking to possess marijuana in the commonwealth but it lacks clarity as far as patients’ rights. Leafwell, a primarily telehealth cannabis platform, will be expanding into the Kentucky market in the coming months with pop-up clinics.
“The physician essentially played a somewhat disconnected and not extremely vetted or heavily regulated role in the executive order certification…,” he said. “Under the medical program, physicians are under far more scrutiny.”
He continued, saying he’s unsure if executive order protections will be extended or expire when dispensaries are operational, creating some ambiguity, and a standardized and singular set of guidelines would provide clarity for practitioners and patients.
“It’s like a lighthouse in a very foggy bay. It’s what I can go to, refer to, and look back on in order to give me my guidelines for how I should sail by ship,” Levin said. “I think in the sense of the executive order being a little bit vague and not touching on some of the more niche employment issues, let’s say possession or Fourth Amendment stop and frisks and search, it’s much more developed and clear under Kentucky law. I feel as though there’s more benefit to having that executive order expired once Kentucky’s program is fully operational.”
Beshear said on Jan. 30 that until dispensaries are operational, the executive order will remain in effect for those who need to travel out-of-state for medical marijuana products. When asked if the executive order would remain in effect when dispensaries are open, Steele, the spokesperson for the Office of Medical Cannabis, told The Courier Journal “the executive order remains in effect.”
“If you haven’t already gotten certified … it would be the wisest move to… (follow) the process that’s laid out by the medical program, by the commonwealth program itself,” Levin said.
Grell says it’s best to go through the Office of Medical Cannabis website to confirm licensed practitioners and businesses before scheduling appointments.
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Contact breaking news reporter Marina Johnson at Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com.
