Kentucky will start accepting license applications for prospective medical marijuana businesses beginning next week—six months ahead of schedule—the governor announced on Thursday.

Just over a year after signing a medical cannabis legalization bill into law, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said regulators will start taking medical marijuana business license applications on Monday, July 1.

“This administration has been working hard to expedite the timeline for making medical cannabis available to Kentuckians with serious medical conditions,” Beshear said in a press release. “I am pleased to report that Team Kentucky will begin accepting applications from prospective medical cannabis businesses beginning next Monday, July 1–a full 6 months ahead of schedule.”

The governor also announced that the state Board of Medical Licensure and Board of Nursing will be simultaneously start issuing permits for doctors and nurses to issue medical cannabis recommendations to patients at the beginning of next month.

“We are excited that the program will be able to issue licenses in 2024 rather than 2025,” Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander said. “From its inception, the program has been focused on ensuring patients with serious medical conditions like cancer, PTSD, multiple sclerosis and other symptoms and conditions have safe

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Ohio marijuana regulators have approved dozens of provisional licenses for existing medical marijuana operators to convert to dual-use licenses, setting the stage for a potentially imminent launch of the state’s recreational market.

As of Friday afternoon, the Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) has signed off on 62 provisional dual licenses for dispensaries, cultivators, processors and testing labs, just two weeks after regulators started accepting applications.

Before opening applications, the department released informational materials to prepare prospective applicants, outlining regulatory requirements they must satisfy in order to be eligible for the hybrid license.

Applicants that receive the provisional licenses can’t start selling to adult consumers just yet. They must first prove that they’ve met various requirements, which includes updating point-of-sale technology to distinguish between medical cannabis and adult-use sales, enhancing security and verifying that they will be able to maintain an adequate supply for patients. If they meet those standards, and when any inspection requirements are complete, applicants will be able to obtain a certificate of operation to begin dual sales.

“It’s important to keep in mind that a dual-use provisional license does not permit the holder to sell non-medical cannabis; it is issued as a placeholder while the provisional licensee

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Bipartisan Pennsylvania lawmakers say the votes are there to pass a marijuana legalization bill as soon as this year, though they stressed that the governor needs to work across the aisle to get the job done—and argued that it would be helpful if the federal government implemented its proposed cannabis rescheduling rule sooner rather than later.

During an X Spaces event on Wednesday, Sens. Dan Laughlin (R) and Sharif Street (D), as well as Rep. Amen Brown (D), discussed the prospects of enacting cannabis reform in the current session, expressing tentative optimism even though there are still outstanding issues to resolve.

There also appeared to be agreement that the 20 percent tax rate for marijuana that was included in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D) latest budget was too high. And while there may be debate among members about Democrats’ push for equity-focused provisions in whatever deal emerges, Laughlin indicated that GOP leadership is more amenable to some version of the reform than might meet the eye.

“I’ve been advocating for this for almost three years now, and I will say that, in that time, the attitudes amongst the Senate Republicans has certainly softened,” Laughlin said during the social media event hosted

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