FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) – Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order on Tuesday providing further guidance on which medical conditions qualify for medical cannabis in the commonwealth.

The following conditions were added to the list:

• Terminal illness
• Sickle cell anemia
• ALS
• Parkinson’s disease
• HIV
• AIDS
• Huntington’s disease
• Muscular dystrophy
• Cachexia or wasting syndrome
• Crohn’s disease
• Ulcerative colitis
• Neuropathies
• Severe arthritis
• Fibromyalgia
• Glaucoma

The list for the Kentucky Medical Cannabis program already includes conditions such as chronic pain, cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The governor said that the 2023 law setting up Kentucky’s medical cannabis program did not provide much clarity on which conditions qualified.

“The law is meant to provide a safe alternative form of pain relief for Kentuckians suffering, yet the law’s lack of clarity prevented too many people from receiving help. This step makes the law more clear,” Beshear said. “This emergency regulation will help more Kentuckians reclaim their lives through safe, nonaddictive medical cannabis.”

Medical providers and advocates are hopeful that the executive order will help their patients or loved ones, such as Rebecca Seavers, president of the Sickle Cell Association of Kentuckiana.

“Sickle cell causes sudden, excruciating pain anywhere the blood flows, for hours, days or even longer,” Seavers said, who has a daughter and granddaughter who suffer from the illness. “Right now, in Kentucky and across the country, opioids are prescribed for sickle cell patients. I want to thank Gov. Beshear for taking this action that will provide sickle cell patients more safe options. Thousands of Kentuckians, the Sickle Cell Association of Kentuckiana and myself are proud to support this step.”