BURLINGTON, Ky. — Discussions on how to handle medical cannabis are at the forefront of local governments around the state.

What You Need To Know

  • The Boone County Fiscal Court unanimously voted "yes" to prohibit medical cannabis businesses in the county

  • Even with the county opting out, city ordinances take precedence as the ordinance applies to the zoning of medical cannabis dispensaries

  • Both Florence and Union are leaving it up to voters in November whether to allow dispensaries

  • The state will award a limited number of dispensary licenses through a lottery process

While medical cannabis is not set to become legal in Kentucky until Jan. 1, 2025, local governments are supposed to make a decision on whether to allow medical cannabis businesses by June 30 or leave it to voters.

Boone County became the second Northern Kentucky county to ban medical cannabis businesses, but that doesn't mean it won't have dispensaries.

The Boone County Fiscal Court unanimously voted "yes" to prohibit medical cannabis businesses in the county, despite facing opposition from some residents. 

There are residents who agreed with the decision, however.

"I don’t think it needs to be in our county," said resident Sheila Scalf. "I don’t think our property should be used for something like this." 

The ordinance applies to the zoning of medical cannabis dispensaries, meaning city ordinances take precedence even with the county opting out. Both Florence and Union are leaving it up to voters in November whether to allow dispensaries.

The state will award a limited number of dispensary licenses through a lottery process. 

"We felt like (the deadline) was kind of being rushed on us, and we didn’t want to rush into a bad decision for our constituents,” said Boone County Commissioner Jesse Brewer. “What we didn’t want to have happen in Boone County was to not opt out before the June 30 deadline and have business owners spending money to apply for permits only for us to later maybe opt out and have a lot of sunk wasted costs there.”

Brewer added the county could reverse its decision later on.

“Doesn’t mean we can’t change that later," he said. "You can opt back in." 

Regardless of how people feel about it, Brewer said not all businesses work in all communities.

“I’m not going to go into a suburban area and put a junkyard," he said. "This is ... not a legality question, but a purely zoning question only." 

Brewer said he’s heard people suggest the county could be missing out on tax revenue. But medical cannabis is tax exempt, meaning it won’t be a big revenue stream for local governments, he said. 

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