LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – Medical marijuana became legal in Kentucky at the beginning of this year.

As of now, 14,530 Medical Cannabis cards have been issues across the state. Patients are still waiting on the product to go on sale. The Executive Director of the Office of Medical Cannabis says the wait is nearly over.

From residents in the commonwealth who want to produce medicinal cannabis, to new companies that will extract beneficial oils from it, down to dispensaries, Cannon Armstrong says the process is moving as planned.

“There has been a cultivator that’s produced their first harvest, and it’s up to the cultivator and the licensee on where they move and when they move on that, and i suspect that if we’re going to try and say timeframes, that it’ll definitely be before the end of the year, we’re hopeful that it may be November,” Armstrong explained.

More than 70 businesses have been given the go-ahead in Kentucky to grow and sell the product. Everything has to be grown in state, and indoors, and go through a rigorous process before it actually gets to the dispensary to be sold to the patient.

He’s hoping the therapies offer benefits to patients who’ve tried everything else for their specific treatment, and reassure those still skeptical.

Kentucky’s first medical cannabis dispensary was set-up in Beaver Dam inn August but has yet to open. Armstrong predicts thousands of new jobs could be created related to medicinal cannabis production, and distribution.

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