COVINGTON, Ky. — State-licensed medical cannabis operations will be allowed in Covington starting next year. But that doesn’t mean it’s likely to see a dispensary pop up right away.

What You Need To Know

  • Cities across the commonwealth are deciding on whether to ban medical cannabis businesses, permit them or leave it up to voters

  • The Covington Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to permit and regulate the growing, selling and processing of medical cannabis

  • A maximum of four dispensary licenses will be divided up between a nine county northern Kentucky region

  • Areas of potential operation will be further limited by zoning

The Covington Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to permit and regulate the growing, selling and processing of medical cannabis under a statewide licensing system.

Cities across the commonwealth are deciding on whether to ban medical cannabis businesses, permit them, or leave it up to voters. Covington Mayor Joe Meyer explained why, after weeks of conversation, city commissioners landed where they did.

“It’s legal. It provides a necessary and beneficial service to a lot of people. Plus, we’re right here across the river from Ohio and Cincinnati, where recreational marijuana is completely legal as of now,” Meyer said. “The whole attitude and the cultural attitudes towards the use of marijuana have changed dramatically in the past several years. And there’s no sense for us to deny the change that’s going on.”

A maximum of four dispensary licenses will be divided up between a nine county northern Kentucky region, with each license going to a different county. So Kenton County has a four in nine shot of getting one when dispensaries are allowed to open next year.

“The probability that it would be in Covington is actually considerably smaller than that. So all we’ve done is say yes, we’re open to a process that’s going to take a long time, really, years in order to mature,” Meyer said.

Areas of potential operation will be further limited by zoning. For determining which areas under Covington’s Neighborhood Development Code where cannabis operations will be considered “permitted uses,” the newly passed city ordinance interprets these operations as the following existing uses:

  • Dispensaries – “Other Medical Facility (Pharmacy).”
  • Cultivator operations -- “Other Light Industrial.”
  • Processor operations -- “Micro-Manufacturing.”
  • Safety Compliance facilities -- “Research, Testing and Development Laboratory.”
  • And Producer operations -- “Other Warehousing and Freight.”

In regard to dispensaries, Meyer said, “We’re treating it the same as any pharmacy. So wherever pharmacies are allowed to locate, dispensaries can locate, subject to state restrictions.”

Those restrictions include not being within 1,000 feet of a school or day care center.

“So the possible locations in Covington are considerably smaller than one might imagine,” Meyer said.

People interested in opening a dispensary are going through the application process with the state. If more than four apply in the northern Kentucky region, it’ll be decided through a lottery.

Meyer said he sees this strictly as a service to the people of Covington. Medical cannabis dispensaries will not produce any significant revenue for the cities they’re located in.

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