Cannabis in Kentucky


Cannabis is illegal for use as a drug in Kentucky, United States, though non-psychoactive CBD oil is legal in the state, and Kentucky has a lengthy history of cultivating industrial hemp for fiber since 1775.

Industrial hemp

Hemp was first cultivated for fiber in Kentucky near Danville in 1775, and cultivation there continued into the 20th century even though cultivation had diminished in other states.
A 1914 USDA report noted:

Appearance as a drug

It is unclear when cannabis first became popular as a drug in Kentucky, but The Encyclopedia of Louisville notes mention of the popularity of the drug in the Louisville Times in 1930:

2014 legalization of CBD trials

In April 2014, Governor Steve Beshear signed a law permitting patients to use non-psychoactive cannabidiol derivatives with a physician's recommendation, under clinical trials at the University of Kentucky in the treatment of epilepsy, but the law did not include provisions to legally produce or sell CBD.

2015 failed attempt to legalize medical cannabis

In 2015, House Bill 3 and Senate Bill 40 both proposed establishing a medical cannabis framework in Kentucky; both failed to pass out of committee. The anti-cannabis National Marijuana Initiative and the Kentucky Baptist Convention took credit for the defeat of the bills, and vowed to oppose medical cannabis bills in 2016. NMI coordinator Ed Shemelya stated: "The ultimate end game for proponents of – and I don't even like to call it medical marijuana – the proponents of marijuana as medicine is not to sanction marijuana as medicine but the outright legalization of recreational use of marijuana."

2020 attempt to legalize medical cannabis

On February 20, 2020, House Bill 136 passed 65 to 30. It was the first time a medical marijuana bill has been taken up by the full House. The bill proposes restrictions on who can have medical marijuana and where it can be used, and prohibits smoking medical marijuana. It stalled in the Senate due to the COVID-19 pandemic.