The 2026 Kentucky legislative session ended on April 15, 2026. Several bills were filed during the session, including Senate Bill 253 (Ky. 2026), introduced by Senator Steve West, a primary sponsor of Senate Bill 47 (the initial bill legalizing medical cannabis in Kentucky). Senate Bill 253 was largely limited to clarification of preexisting requirements and reducing non-substantive requirements for patient access, including (but not limited to):
- Requiring cannabis businesses comply with filing and payment requirements set by the Kentucky Department of Revenue;
- Precluding cannabis business licensees from granting any security interest in a cannabis business license;
- Clarifying the statutes requiring an electronic monitoring system for tracking medicinal cannabis; and
- Removing notarization requirements for patient applications.
In addition, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Office of Medical Cannabis (“OMC”) submitted written recommendations to expand the qualifying conditions for medical cannabis consistent with prior recommendations from the Kentucky Board of Physicians and Advisors and the Team Kentucky Medical Cannabis Workgroup, with some of these recommendations incorporated into House Bill 894 (Ky. 2026). Other cannabis-related bills included (1) easing restrictions on THC-infused beverages (SB 223); (2) imposing regulatory license fees on cannabis-infused beverage sales (HB 9); and (3) exempting possession of a “personal use quantity of cannabis” from civil or criminal penalty under Kentucky law (SB 164).
The Kentucky legislature, however, chose not to pass any changes to preexisting cannabis law this session, including the medical cannabis program, with an implied preference to see how the recent legislative enactments continue to operate before considering any substantive or non-substantive changes.
As a result, any changes to the medical cannabis program in 2026 will be limited to regulatory changes adopted by OMC, to the extent they are willing to consider, promulgate and adopt such changes. Although OMC has not announced any intent to modify any of the preexisting regulations, suggested changes may be submitted to OMC throughout the year. Any such proposed changes would be limited to operational and/or interpretative positions taken by OMC, and could not make substantive alterations to the statutory requirements for the medical cannabis program. However, certain targeted changes to the existing rules could greatly streamline business operations without affecting the safety and security of the program.
Licensees should strongly consider opening discussions with OMC regarding any proposed changes to the implementing regulations as soon as possible. If you would like to discuss this topic further, please reach out to a member of the Dentons cannabis group.
