Cannabis News

Kentucky’s First Medical Marijuana Dispensary To Open This Weekend, With Supplies Expected To ‘Run Out’ Quickly, Governor Says

Published

3 days ago

December 11, 2025

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Governor of Kentucky announced the state’s first licensed medical marijuana dispensary they will open next weekend. And he predicts the business will “run out” of supplies by the end of the day.

At a press conference Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) called it “great news” that The Post Dispensary in Beaver Dam will officially begin accepting registered medical cannabis patients starting Saturday. supplied by the state’s first licensed cannabis growerFarmtucky.

“This news makes Saturday the first day that safe, regulated medical cannabis is available to patients, and makes The Post the first fully approved and licensed medical dispensary in the state,” Beshear said. “Our priority is to ensure that Kentuckians with cancer, PTSD, MS and other serious medical conditions can now have access to safe medical cannabis.”

“It will be a limited supply that we expect to sell out on Saturday,” he said. “But this certainly shows what’s to come, and it’s a big mark that we’ve achieved in this program.”

It will be the Post Dispensary open on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.-or while supplies last. There will also be a ribbon cutting ceremony at 9 am

The governor, who has long championed cannabis reform, He anticipated a market launch earlier this monthwhile claiming that medical marijuana will help thousands of patients find an alternative to opioids for pain management.

Beshear provided more specific details on the program’s progress, noting that more than 23,000 patients have received e-certificates for access to cannabis, including nearly 1,800 to treat cancer symptoms, and 15,000 with chronic pain, “who would otherwise be taking opioids, which is one of the reasons we’ve pushed this program so hard.”

In terms of licensing marijuana businesses, the state has so far approved 16 cultivations, 48 dispensaries and six security compliance facilities. Officials have also certified 506 doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis.

The governors at the end of October it passed the milestone of registering 15,000 patientsbut that has grown significantly in recent weeks.

In July, Beshear sent a letter to President Donald TrumpCalling for the exclusion of provisions of the congressional spending bill Prevent the Justice Department from rescheduling marijuana.

In his letter to the president, he noted that a pending proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is “something you supported during your presidential campaign.”

“That process should be allowed to play out. Americans deserve leadership that won’t move the goalposts in the middle of the game,” Beshear said, noting that he was among the tens of thousands who filed public comments in favor of reform when he began the Biden administration, “showing broad public interest in reprogramming.”

“I joined that effort because it’s about helping people. The rescheduling would give suffering patients the relief they need,” the governor said. “It would ensure that communities are safer because legal medical products reduce the illegal market. It would provide new and meaningful research on health benefits.”

Beshear also cited a letter to the DEA he signed last year asking for rescheduling because “the jury is no longer out on marijuana. It has medical benefits.”

Back at the state level, the governor recently said he recognizes that “it’s taken longer than we’d like” to get the industry under control since he signed into law the legalization of medical marijuana in 2023.

In recognition of this delayed implementation, recently signed an executive order this year to waive renewal fees for patients who get the cards so that they are not charged again before the stores open. And another order he signed to provide protections for qualified patients who obtain medical marijuana outside of Kentucky “will remain in place.”

Beshear announced in May that the state had launched a new online directory that allows people to see where medicinal cannabis will open next to them

He noted that the state is working to provide access to patients “as soon as possible,” which includes speeding up the licensing process. Governor also in January ceremoniously issued the first medical marijuana cards in the commonwealth.

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Meanwhile, the governors sent a letter to Kentucky’s congressional delegation in Januaryurging them to “take decisive action to protect the constitutional rights of our law-abiding medical cannabis patients” by repealing the federal ban on possession of firearms by marijuana users.

Bipartisan Kentucky senators introduced similar legislation asked the federal representatives of the state to take corrective measuresBeshear said he agrees but would I would like to see even more significant changes at the federal level.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) warned Kentucky residents late last year that if they choose to participate in the state’s medical marijuana program, they will be prohibited from buying or possessing firearms under federal law.

As for implementing the state’s medical cannabis law, Beshear said during his State of the Commonwealth address in January Cannabis will be available to patients sometime “this year.” Later he also shared tips for patients to find a doctor and sign up to participate in the cannabis program.

Health professionals have been able to Patients began to evaluate the recommendations from the beginning of last December.

While there are currently no operational dispensaries for patients, Beshear also confirmed that an executive order he signed in 2023 will be in place in the interim, protecting patients. Those with medical cannabis purchased from licensed out-of-state retailers.

In last November’s election, Kentucky also saw more than 100 cities and counties pass local ordinances to allow medical cannabis businesses in their jurisdictions. The governor said the election results show that “the jury is no longer out” on the issue this is clearly supported by voters across party and geographic lines.

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Cannabis News

What does the upcoming Virginia market have in store for its workers?

Published

2 hours ago

December 14, 2025

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A union and a marijuana justice nonprofit are fighting for worker protections and fairness for small operations as the multibillion-dollar industry moves closer to coming online in Virginia.
Retail cannabis sales in Virginia could begin next November, but debate continues over how to set up the market in a way that’s fair to workers and small businesses.

A committee of state lawmakers met earlier this month to discuss the details of how to establish and regulate a retail cannabis market in Virginia. The debate has been going on for years and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin after a deadline blocked Virginia’s entry into an industry that last year had more than $30 billion in sales.

Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger has said she supports the creation of a legalized retail market, so it’s likely to happen on her watch. Virginia already has medicinal cannabis and it is legal to possess an ounce for personal use. But unlike neighboring Maryland, it’s still illegal to buy and sell cannabis, for now.

Virginia lawmakers are developing legislation to establish a retail cannabis market in Virginia. They are balancing several goals, such as ensuring that small businesses are not pushed around by massive corporations; supporting local farmers in this ag-heavy situation; Righting wrongs perpetuated by racist accusations of the war on drugs and protecting public safety.

Cannabis News

Virginia Hemp Businesses Consider How To Pivot With Federal Ban Looming

Published

2 hours ago

December 14, 2025

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“It’s a bad situation for a lot of hemp growers and processors and retailers.”

Author: Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury

Richmond-based Bingo Beer officially entered the growing national market for hemp-derived THC products when it introduced THC seltzers earlier this year.

The non-alcoholic beverage option is growing nationwide as an alternative for people looking to cut back on or eliminate alcohol altogether. A recent Gallup poll showed that the percentage of Americans who drink alcohol has dropped to 54 percent.

Analysts and farmers say, however, that the hemp-based THC industry could come to an abrupt halt by November of next year, as Congress voted to ban most hemp-derived THC products in a last-minute government spending bill that ended a last-minute government shutdown.

THC seltzers and other hemp-based products are a “large and growing segment of the economy,” Bingo Beer co-owner Jay Bayer told the Mercury earlier this year.

“I don’t think the solution is to put the genie back in the bottle,” Bayer said on a recent call. He added that offering THC products has been an “exception” for some in the alcoholic beverage industry, as long as they meet the needs of consumers.

But like Virginia continues to explore the legal cannabis marketBayer is exploring possible ways to pivot.

“If we switched from marijuana to THC, consumers would come with us,” he said.

An uncertain future

Hemp businesses across the nation are trying to map out their next steps. In North Carolina, for example, hemp businesses are facing potential legal battles to defend their industry, as in other states where cannabis is not legal.

“We can’t pivot,” Dana Burham, co-owner of Otherside Hemp, he told NC Newsline last month.

But Virginia is in a “privileged” space, Pure Shenandoah co-owner Tanner Johnson said on a recent call. He runs the company with his siblings, whose products run the gamut of industrial hemp’s uses, from a “hemp” research contract awarded in 2023 with the US Air Force to supplying Bingo Beer’s THC seltzer.

As Congress laid out the foundations for the industry in 2018, Johnson compared the hemp-restricted provision in the government spending bill to pulling the “rug” out from under people. But companies like his have diversified portfolios and may find it easier to do business in Virginia than in states where legal cannabis markets do not exist or are forthcoming. However, he said, he is taking care of things at the national level.

As a representative of the Virginia Cannabis Association, he will also provide legislators with insights and ideas to craft and pass legislation to enable the new market.

“It’s a bad situation for a lot of hemp growers and processors and retailers,” Johnson said. “But in Virginia, we almost feel like we’re threading a needle where this industry is closing as another industry is opening.”

This story was first published by the Virginia Mercury.

Brendan Cleak’s photo.

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Cannabis News

Italian hemp sector keeps growing despite legal uncertainties

Published

1 day ago

December 13, 2025

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Despite the initial boom and great promises of great opportunities, the hemp sector is struggling in many countries around the world. From the recent hemp ban in the US, to a similar ban in Italy, which has effectively halted the growth of this industry.

Effects of hemp prohibition
Among the 3,000 companies associated with Canapa Sativa Italia (CSI) – the Italian hemp industry association – 10% closed after the hemp ban amendment was signed. Another 10% are preparing to go abroad. Numbers can be interpreted in many ways, one of these interpretations paints a space under pressure. The reality is that the Italian hemp market continues to expand despite a regulatory structure that struggles to treat it as agriculture.

Research commissioned by CSI and conducted by MPG Consulting in April 2025 shows a very detailed picture. The flower market is worth 1,960 million euros, with 22,379 full-time employees in the supply chain. The study of the economist Davide Fortin and the lawyer Maria Paola Liotti, presented in the Chamber of Deputies on April 2, portrays an area that already behaves like modern agriculture. “It creates value, it supports jobs, and it does so with a sustainability profile that many other crops would envy. What it still lacks is institutional recognition,” they say.

Mattia Cusani, one of the first members of CSI and now its president, farms legal hemp on the Sila plateau. For him, potential is not an abstraction. He describes the hemp chain as a ready-made model of the circular economy. “Production methods, crop variability, use of residues from crop lines. It all exists,” he says. “All that is missing is a technical desk for operation and the removal of several long-standing legal knots. At the center of this stalled system sit workers between the ages of 25 and 40. They form one of the few agricultural sectors that is expanding rapidly in the country. Moreover, they belong to the generation that has experienced the worst economic shocks in recent years.”

Along with other associations, the CSI also demands a basic alignment from Brussels. “The express inclusion of flowers among the plant parts authorized for use. Treating open field and greenhouse cultivation equally. Maintaining the full legality of industrial uses such as seeds and fibers. And unifying police controls through a single ministerial decree, because today’s practices vary a lot and create uncertainty and pressure on farms.”

Stories from the field
Two entrepreneurs who built their businesses legally now face confiscations caused by changes to the hemp ban.

In Rome, Noemi closed her shop at the beginning of November. He is 34 years old, with a degree in archaeology. For years he worked paid shifts at restaurants to cover expenses. In 2017, he and a flatmate invested what little they had to enter the hemp market. They opened a small shop selling Carmagnola and Futura 75, two of the varieties allowed for cultivation. Over the years, that store became a reference in a difficult neighborhood without a real meeting place. They refused to expand the franchise of foreign chains and focused on a single local store. A few days of legal confusion erased all that.

In Sardinia, the agricultural company Orti Castello seized more than 8,000 plants at the end of October 2025. The intervention report lists 2,467 items, even counting already cut stems mislabeled as sprouts. Each plant was grown from certified seed and was low in THC. Now the company is waiting to release its crop. For Massimiliano Quai and his colleagues, the shock is not limited to the lost inventory. The farm has already had thefts in the field despite the presence of guards. All this within a company that has grown continuously since 2018, through biological methods and consistent demand.

Massimiliano repeats the same idea. “Our best year has always been the next,” he says. “The store moves about 500 euros a day. Tea and honey sell fast. Only since the beginning of 2025, purchases have reached 62,910 euros. In all these years, we have had 6 months of flat or negative results. Everything else has been a constant upward movement. The plan is simple. Stay in Sardinia and consolidate. We only have to be open once, we have chosen a second site abroad. In Italy, in 2018, the political climate seemed favorable.”

MPG Consulting research places these stories within two possible futures. “According to the current model, the diverse ecosystem of shops, e-commerce platforms and tobacco shops keeps the market close to 1,960 million euros. Employment remains high, the supply chain remains diverse. The alternative is a state monopoly controlled by tobacco shops, with a tax burden of 56.5. In this scenario, the market would have a direct and indirect impact of more than 144,000 million euros. evaporate, and employment would fall to around 6,000 workers.”

However, demand grows. “The lack of commercial communication is not slowing down the market. Many are choosing hemp flowers as a substitute for tobacco rather than a substitute. It becomes part of the process of moving away from one of the most harmful and addictive substances available.”

A bunch of growers
MPG Consulting also maps the crop side. Small growers sell everything directly. Medium producers divided between retail and wholesale. Large growers rely on standardized varieties and volumes. Medium plants are the innovative key of the whole chain. They test varieties, refine phenotypes and drive the system forward. They are also the weakest link if a monopoly model becomes a reality, unlike large growers who can operate in a rigid centralized environment. “The Italian hemp sector grows anyway. The question hanging in the air is not whether it can grow, but whether the rules will ever grow with it.”