FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear wants to hear from the public about medical marijuana, so he’s creating an advisory council to hold public hearings around the state to hear about it.
“So that your voice is heard by the executive branch, even if it’s ignored by the legislative branch,” he said on Thursday.
The council is part of his plan to find a way to make medical marijuana legal in Kentucky, even though lawmakers decided not to this year.
The Kentucky House of Representatives approved a bill creating a limited medical marijuana program in March, but House Bill 136 never received a committee vote in the Senate. Senate Republican leaders said they want more research first.
“Now would I prefer that the legislature had passed it? Yes, but they didn’t,” Beshear said. “And if they are not going to take action—not even give it a committee hearing in the Senate—I believe it’s my obligation to see what’s possible given the will of the people.”
And Kentucky is on a dwindling list of states where weed is illegal: 37 other states have legalized it in some form.
“When you look at southern states like Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi, they are allowing treatment for their residents,” Beshear said. “Yeah, we are actually behind Mississippi this time; we can’t make that joke.”
Every other state that has legal marijuana did it through state lawmakers or through a ballot initiative. Beshear said he’s still analyzing any potential action he can take, but he believes he can do something.
“Now obviously, when we take action, if they disagree, we could see what we always see,” Beshear said in regards to a potential court challenge over an executive order. “But if we’re moving forward and somebody else is trying to pull us back, then I believe we are on the right side of not only this issue, but we are on the right side of helping those veterans, those children, those seniors, those in chronic pain.”
Beshear also encouraged people to reach out to his office to share their thoughts on marijuana at govmedicalcannabisadvisoryteam@ky.gov.
Senate President Robert Stivers (R-Manchester) said Beshear doesn’t have the power to legalize medical marijuana.
“The public should be concerned with a governor who thinks he can change statute by executive order,” Stivers said in a statement. “He simply can’t legalize medical marijuana by executive order; you can’t supersede a statue by executive order because it’s a Constitutional separation of powers violation.”
Stivers also criticized Beshear for not signing House Bill 604 yet, which creates a marijuana research program at the University of Kentucky.