Marijuana Moment: Top Kentucky GOP Lawmaker Wants State Officials Prosecuted For Abiding By Governor’s Medical Marijuana Expansion Order

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“Any organization, any licensee, that participates in this unlawful expansion should be prosecuted.”

By Sarah Ladd, Kentucky Lantern

Kentucky’s House Majority Whip Jason Nemes (R) asked Attorney General Russell Coleman (R) to help ensure agencies “not cooperate” with Gov. Andy Beshear’s (D) expansion of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana recommendations.

Nemes, a Louisville Republican, made the comments Tuesday morning during the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary.

He called Beshear’s June 2 executive order, which added several conditions to the state’s list of approved conditions for medical marijuana, an “unlawful expansion of conditions.”

“Any organization, any licensee, that participates in this unlawful expansion should be prosecuted,” Nemes said during Tuesday’s meeting. “This is not the way forward.”

He also said: “The General Assembly does not approve of” the expansion.

Scottie Ellis, a spokeswoman for Beshear, said “The governor’s action only clarifies the law so people suffering with serious conditions like the chronic pain associated with terminal illness or sickle cell anemia know that they qualify under the existing statute.”

“Rep. Nemes’s comments do the opposite and cause more confusion and fear among Kentuckians,” she said in a statement. “It’s ultimately up to an individual’s doctor or APRN to make the decision of whether a person has a qualifying condition. The Governor’s action helps doctors and nurses better understand the law.”

In 2023, the legislature legalized medical marijuana for Kentuckians suffering from chronic illnesses including ​any type or form of cancer, chronic or severe pain, epilepsy or other intractable seizure disorder; multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms, or spasticity; chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting syndrome; or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

In early June, Beshear said the law suffered from a “lack of clarity.”

He signed an executive order directing the Office of Medical Cannabis to issue an emergency regulation clarifying that Kentuckians have access to medical cannabis if they have these additional conditions: Terminal illness, sickle cell anemia, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, HIV, AIDS, Huntington’s disease, muscular dystrophy, wasting syndrome, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, neuropathies, severe arthritis, fibromyalgia and glaucoma.

“I would say to the governor, and to everyone who supports this: You are jeopardizing the program in its entirety because this General Assembly is not playing around when we say we want the tightest medical marijuana program in the country,” Nemes said.

Some lawmakers want to add more conditions, Nemes said, and “some of us don’t.”

“There is a lawful process to do that. The governor…skirted that law after he asked us to do it, and we said no,” he said in his comments to Coleman. “So I’m asking you, as our chief law enforcement officer, to do all that you can do to make sure that the law is followed, and that those who break the law, even under the understanding that they might be following an unlawful executive order, are prosecuted and they lose their license.”

Coleman did not directly address the request. He responded with, “As always, Representative Nemes, appreciate the input.”

“This is the second time this week Republicans in the General Assembly have resorted to threats and intimidation against suffering or even dying Kentuckians while trying to reverse an action by the Governor,” Ellis, Beshear’s spokesperson, also said in a statement. “From lowering the gas tax to ease soaring prices at the pump to offering a safe alternative for pain relief for patients with terminal illnesses, ALS and more, Gov. Beshear’s steps are focused on helping Kentuckians, and they are supported by the law.”

This story was first published by Kentucky Lantern.

Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.

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