FRANKFORT, Ky. — Cannabis advocates are urging Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., to decriminalize the possession of marijuana.

Regina Carpenter, a member of the Kentucky Cannabis Freedom Coalition, said even Kentucky's recently passed medical marijuana law is one of the strictest of its kind in the U.S. Senate Bill 47 takes effect Jan. 1, 2025.

For more than a decade, Carpenter has advocated for the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana. She and others gathered Friday at the state Capitol Rotunda to sign a petition asking Beshear to use executive action.

Patrick Dunegan is the coalition's director.

“I’m pleading with Gov. Beshear to please follow through with [President Joe] Biden’s request to decriminalize cannabis ... it’s way past time for this to happen, and I will gladly sign this petition," Dunegan said.

Three states bordering Kentucky have decriminalized weed while West Virginia permits the use of medical marijuana. Illinois and Ohio have legalized pot altogether.

“It loads up our jails with 'criminals' who are in there for the possession of a plant," Carpenter said. "In my eyes, that's not a criminal; it's a person. And with that, it's overcrowding our jails."

Carpenter said far too many Kentuckians are being unfairly prosecuted for possessing marijuana while other nearby states have successfully taken a different stance on cannabis.

Kentucky’s medical marijuana law, which takes effect next year, includes 21 qualifying conditions. An executive order from Beshear, signed last year, created a task force, partially made up of doctors to add more conditions to that list.