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By Tom Latek

Gov. Andy Beshear sent a letter to Anne Milgram, administrator for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Wednesday, expressing his support of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ recommendation that the DEA ease restrictions on marijuana.

The move would reschedule cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. The Governor wrote that the step would help patients have an alternative to deadly opioids and continued access to safe products and help communities further reduce crime and illicit drug use. Rescheduling would also create fair markets by placing cannabis businesses on the same economic footing as any other business and provide real opportunities for research on marijuana.

“As Governor, my job is to move our state forward,” Beshear said. “Rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III is a significant, common-sense step forward for all Kentuckians, especially those with significant medical conditions.”

As a Schedule I drug, marijuana is currently in the same classification as heroin and LSD as having “no current accepted medical use.” It places marijuana as more dangerous than Schedule II drugs such as fentanyl, oxycodone, methadone, methamphetamine and Vicodin.

“But the jury is no longer out on marijuana: It has medical uses and is currently being used for medical purposes,” Gov. Beshear stated in the letter. “The recognition is overwhelming – and bipartisan. For example, I signed a medical marijuana law that passed with support from Republican legislative supermajorities and a Democratic Governor.”

The medical marijuana law takes effect in January 2025, although the state is currently taking license applications for all aspects of the business, including growers, producers and dispensaries

Gov. Beshear noted his work to fight the opioid epidemic began during his time as Kentucky’s attorney general. In that role, he filed more individual opioid lawsuits than any other attorney general, and that work has now helped the state secure over $900 million from companies that preyed on Kentucky communities.

The letter also outlines that nationally, opioid use killed 80,000 Americans in 2022. In the same year, marijuana use alone killed zero Americans. The Governor said that is why Kentucky’s Office of Drug Control Policy, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities all support rescheduling.

For more information about the Medical Cannabis Program, including information about proposed regulations, visit kymedcan.ky.gov.