Kentucky may be called the Bluegrass State, due to an abundance of the bluegrass found throughout the land. After recent voting by Kentucky lawmakers, residents can’t count on seeing green plant life of another type – marijuana – in a legal way as of now.
The state has seen attempts in its legislature to approve weed for medicinal purposes but those attempts thus far have failed. Cannabidiol has been legalized, but not marijuana.
The failure to pass a law legalizing weed has inspired reactions from lawmakers. Here are six quotes from individuals on both sides of the issue.
1. “If in fact we do this as a General Assembly at some point in time—it’s not going to pass this time, everybody knows that—that we have stringent safeguards in place to make sure that we’re not going to flood the market with another product that might add to our addictive situation.”
House Speaker Greg Stumbo (D-Prestonsburg) told this to WKMS-FM after a medical marijuana bill died in the Kentucky House in 2015.
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2. “Without going through that FDA approval process, how would you or a physician know how much to prescribe, how often to prescribe it, in what strength to prescribe it? I’m wondering why we’ve carved off cannabis and decided that it should be immune or not subject to this process.”
Rep. Robert Benvenuti (R-Lexington) told this to WKMS-FM as his reason for not supporting the legalization of marijuana in 2015.
3. “Obviously, there’s a national trend.”
Stumbo told this to the Louisville Courier-Journal after House Bill 3 was not taken up for a vote in a committee hearing in 2015.
4. "You ask yourself a question, is cannabis medicine? Yes or no are the only two answers, and the answer is yes."
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Sen. Perry Clark (D-Louisville) was quoted by WDRB-TV in 2014 as vouching for more support passing medicinal marijuana bills in Kentucky. He had already failed twice but was trying a third time.
5. “I don’t want to give anybody false hope; I don’t believe this bill is going anywhere in this session. But I do believe the conversation needs to be held.”
Rep. Susan Westrom (D-Lexington) was quoted by the Kentucky Kernel website in a 2014 story as saying that HB 350 was a step in the legislative process of eventually approving medical marijuana. She abstained in a first vote but then came out in favor in a second vote.
6. “This is a bill that says that this Legislature will decide what’s a medicine and what’s not. I don’t believe we have the authority to do that, and I think any belief that we do have the authority is arrogant, irresponsible and reckless.”
Benvenuti said this at a hearing over HB 350 in 2014, as reported by the Kentucky Kernel.
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