Gov. Andy Beshear issued an executive order Tuesday to form a 17-member medical marijuana advisory committee, which will provide feedback on cannabis for Kentuckians suffering from chronic medical conditions.
The committee includes members with relevant experience regarding drug use, including opioid use disorder and addiction. He also chose those familiar with advocating for medical marijuana, along with law enforcement and those in the field of criminal justice.
“Polling suggests 90% of Kentucky adults support legalizing medical cannabis, while at the same time, far too many in our state who could benefit from it are suffering,” Beshear said in a news release. “It is simply time that something more is done. I want to make sure every voice is heard as I am weighing executive action that could provide access to medical cannabis in the commonwealth.”
Among those included is Alex Kreit, who created the Chase Center on Addiction Law & Policy in 2020 at the Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. He is an expert on illegal drugs and marijuana law and was on the San Diego Medical Marijuana Task Force.
“I’m honored to have been appointed to the committee, and I look forward to serving on it,” Kreit said.
Rep. Rachel Roberts (D-Newport), who introduced comprehensive cannabis legislation this past General Assembly session that would have fully legalized the drug and expunged marijuana criminal records, said Kreit is an important addition to the committee.
“I think it was a really smart appointment on the governor’s part, and I think his voice will carry the weight that it showed as a true expert in the field,” Roberts said.
One area of pushback that pro-cannabis legislators get is that marijuana is illegal at the federal level, Roberts said. Having somebody with Kreit’s level of expertise will help the state navigate the legality of it.
Roberts’ legislation failed to get a committee hearing this session; another medical marijuana bill passed through the House only to die in the Senate, where it also didn’t get a committee hearing. House Bill 136 would have been “the most restrictive medical cannabis bill in the United States,” Roberts said in March. The bill wouldn’t allow users to smoke the flower, for example.
Another bill introduced by a Northern Kentucky legislator passed the legislature, one sponsored by Rep. Kim Moser (R-Taylor Mill). While Beshear vetoed parts of the bill, House Bill 604 saw a new Kentucky Revised Statute, 164, created to allow for the creation of the Kentucky Center for Cannabis at the University of Kentucky.
“This convenes researchers and scholars from across the state on this issue so we can reduce bottlenecks in the research and regulatory processes,” Moser said at the time. “Our goal is to figure out what conditions cannabis can treat, and by doing so, make Kentucky a national leader in research, since only one other university has a similar program.”
It’s unclear right now if the center will have anything to do with the committee.
Beshear signaled in April that he would form the committee due to the inaction of the legislature during the 2022 General Assembly.
“This session, like the last one and many before it, the General Assembly did not get the job done despite broad support from the public,” Beshear said. “I’m talking about access to medical cannabis.”
Roberts said that if the General Assembly refuses to act on it, she is glad the executive branch is working to bring relief to Kentuckians.
“Nothing polls higher or more bipartisan in the state of Kentucky in cannabis legalization, specifically medical cannabis legalization,” Roberts said.
But, House and Senate leadership have signaled in the past that they are unwilling to budge on medical cannabis. While neither House Speaker David Osborne (R-Prospect) nor Senate President Robert Stivers (R-Manchester) responded to requests for comment, they have said they don’t think Beshear can issue an executive order.
“The public should be concerned with a governor who thinks he can change statute by executive order,” Stivers said in April. “He simply can’t legalize medical marijuana by executive order; you can’t supersede a statute by executive order because it’s a Constitutional separation of powers violation.”
He further detailed that the legislature passed House Bill 604 to conduct more research on medical cannabis.
The committee will have two co-chairs: Secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Kerry Harvey and Secretary of the Public Protection Cabinet Ray Perry. The committee will meet for the first time in the near future in town hall meetings throughout Kentucky. They will gather feedback from local leaders, residents, healthcare workers, and advocates. Those looking to submit feedback online can submit through the new cannabis website: medicalcannabis.ky.gov.
Here are the rest of the committee members:
- Dr. Amber Cann of La Grange, pharmacy coach and adjunct professor at Spalding University;
- Julie Cantwell of Rineyville, advocate with Kentuckians for Medical Marijuana;
- Jennifer Cave of Louisville, member, Stites and Harbison;
- Eric Crawford of Maysville, advocate;
- Cookie Crews of Frankfort, commissioner of the Department of Corrections;
- Dr. John Farmer of Louisville, OB/GYN, medical director of Solid Ground Counseling and Recovery, addiction treatment provider in Louisville, Morehead, and Hazard;
- Dr. Jonathan Hatton of Whitesburg, family medicine, Mountain Comprehensive Health;
- Brian Jointer of Jeffersonville, Indiana, certified public health worker in Louisville;
- Dr. Nick Kouns of Lexington, internal medicine, Clark Regional Medical Center;
- Alex Kreit of Cincinnati, Ohio, director of the Chase Center on Addiction Law and Policy at Northern Kentucky University;
- Dr. Linda McClain of Louisville, OB/GYN, Commonwealth Counseling Center;
- Andrew Sparks of Lexington, former assistant U.S. Attorney;
- Dee Dee Taylor of Louisville, chief executive officer, 502 Hemp Wellness Center;
- Julie Wallace of Morganfield, Union County Attorney; and
- Kristin Wilcox of Beaver Dam, co-founder of Kentucky Moms for Medical Cannabis.