FLORENCE, Ky. — After a statewide rollout spanning years, Northern Kentucky saw its first medical marijuana dispensary, Bluegrass Cannacare, open on Saturday to patients in Florence.
The dispensary, located at the corner of Turfway Road and Burlington Pike, is one of just several medical cannabis dispensaries operating across Kentucky.
"We are Kentucky-born, Kentucky-raised. We are from here. We live in your neighborhoods. We are part of this town," Chad Johns, Bluegrass Cannacare general manager, said. "We are new at this. This is our first go around, and we ask for patience from you, that we will get to that point where we can help everyone and anyone without a single problem."
The dispensary currently offers nine different strains of plant material as well as "generalized, hybrid-style" gummies. Patients can also purchase vaporizers. Johns said product diversity will expand as more cultivators and processors launch.
WATCH: Northern Kentucky has its first medical marijuana dispensary. Here's what to know
"So anything that is not a flower product—so the gummies exclusively right now—are only coming from one place, but as that grows and we get more, there will be more options," Johns said.
As of mid-January, four cultivators, or growers, were operating in the Commonwealth, with a fifth having recently received its commencement inspection. Kentucky’s first operational medical cannabis processor, Bison Processing, opened last month. It will be responsible for taking Kentucky-grown cannabis and transforming it into safe, lab-tested medical products—such as tinctures, edibles and topicals.
Along with Bluegrass Cannacare, three other medical marijuana dispensaries were awarded licenses to operate in the Northern Kentucky region during a state-run lottery drawing in November 2024, before one of the four original licenses was sold:
- Yellow Flowers, LLC in Erlanger (Kenton County)
- C3 Kentucky, LLC in Wilder (Campbell County)
- Green Grass Cannabis, LLC in Carrollton (Carroll County)
"I think the other (dispensaries) are still a couple months out, as they're building out their facilities and working through their zoning issues," Rachel Roberts, executive director of the Kentucky Cannabis Industry Alliance, said in January. "Not only do facilities need to be built out, but the plant itself needs to grow. So we're dealing with that."
Kentucky's medical cannabis program is currently open to patients diagnosed with any of the following conditions:
- Any type or form of cancer
- Chronic or severe pain
- Epilepsy or other intractable seizure disorder
- Multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms, or spasticity
- Chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting syndrome
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
Johns said that he hopes the list of qualifying conditions will expand in the future.
"With the governor pushing for extended ailments this session in Frankfort, I hope that passes as well," Johns said. "Things like Crohn's (disease), ALS, terminal diseases, things like that. It could really help those people improve their quality of life."
Bluegrass Cannacare operates with a secure check-in process where patients present a state ID and medical marijuana card to someone at the first door, before entering a second "showroom" to meet with trained staff who help guide product selection based on individual needs.
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