Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin is discussing the move to legalize medical marijuana as the state houses are considering the option. Based on comments made this week, Gov. Bevin would be joining other governors in 31 states who have signed the bill into law.
The governor shared a heartbreaking experience in his life, in which he watched a nephew battle with cancer and die, dealing with significant pain the entire time prior to his death. The governor has mentioned he would be happy to sign a bill into law with medical marijuana as a focus, but he was careful to say it would matter how the bill was structured before it got his full approval.
Gov. Bevin noted he is not worried about tax revenue, and the legislators should also not make money their primary focus when it comes to a bill for medical marijuana. The focus should be benefits for the residents of the state who deal with chronic pain or other conditions where relief can be found through marijuana treatments.
The governor has not spoken about any of the medical marijuana bills being considered, as there are more than one on the table. The Republican-controlled government has been working toward some form of legalization since it took control of the House and Senate in 2017. Meanwhile, Gov. Bevin has also been clear that he is not interested in seeing legalization of recreational use of marijuana for Kentucky at any point in the future.
This means that the move to pass a bill for medical marijuana would be solely that and not any sign of progress toward a later, larger step to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
In January of 2019, Gov. Bevin mentioned marijuana legalization and dismissed its effectiveness in helping Kentucky address another problem it is currently trying to rectify — that of the status of the pension plan in the state. Gov. Bevin said that the idea that revenue from marijuana would take as long as hundreds of years to effectively resolve the pension system deficit on its own. Meanwhile, the current situation would need more timely methods to resolve it in order to help the state’s citizens.
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