LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The first medical marijuana processor in Kentucky was approved.

Gov. Andy Beshear said the processor is called Bison Infused, and it is in Dayton, Kentucky.

Dayton is in Northern Kentucky, northeast of Newport.

Processors are responsible for processing and packaging the plant into usable product formats, according to the Office of Medical Cannabis (OMC).

More than 17,300 Kentuckians have been approved for medical cannabis cards, Beshear said. Practitioners have issued nearly 26,000 electronic certifications.

A spokesperson for the OMC told WHAS11 News in September 2025 the number of qualifying medical conditions collected from written certifications by practitioners does not match the total number of card applications. 

They said practitioners might have needed to submit multiple electronic written certifications for the same person due to the previous request expiring, and the patient might have more than one qualifying condition.

The first medical cannabis dispensary in a metropolitan area in Kentucky, Speakeasy Dispensary in Lexington, will open at 10 a.m. on Jan. 15. The Post Dispensary, the first dispensary to open in the state, closed its doors a week after opening because it sold out of product.

A third dispensary, called Bluegrass Cannacare, was also approved, Beshear said. That dispensary is in Boone County. It is expected to open once more product becomes available.