(This story has been updated with an addendum at the bottom to note that the Beshear administration reversed course after this story was published and provided a redacted list of the dispensary license applicants that was requested.)
The administration of Gov. Andy Beshear is withholding the identity of who applied for medical marijuana dispensary licenses in nine regions, despite the 36 winners already being announced in a lottery last month.
The Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Office of Medical Cannabis denied an open records request from Kentucky Public Radio for a list of the applicants in regions 3 through 11, saying that record is “preliminary” and exempt from disclosure.
The denial comes after Kentucky Public Radio reported last week that out-of-state applicants tied to marijuana companies dominated the first lottery round in October for cultivator and processor licenses.
This included Dark Horse Cannabis, an Arkansas company whose top executive created at least 350 companies in Kentucky ahead of the application deadline, with their 100-plus applications netting a cultivator and processor license. Companies created by the same executive won four dispensary licenses in Kentucky’s Nov. 25 lottery for nine of Kentucky’s 11 regions.
Matthew Lynch, general counsel for the office, said the identity of the applicants in the concluded lottery regions remains preliminary because they are on a “master list” of dispensary applicants that includes those of the final two regions, which will be awarded in a Dec. 16 lottery. He added that no part of the applicant list could be public until after that final lottery.
Lynch has not responded to emails asking why the document cannot be turned over with the identity of applicants in the final two regions redacted, which has long been a requirement under the Kentucky Open Records Act. A recent court ruling also found that government agencies cannot deny records due to claims that redacting exempt information would constitute an unreasonable burden.
Kentucky Public Radio has filed an appeal with the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General, challenging the Beshear administration’s denial of the open records request.
Michael Abate, a First Amendment attorney that represents Kentucky Public Radio and the Kentucky Press Association, said the denial “makes absolutely no sense.” The Beshear administration’s denial of the open records request raises the question of what they are trying to hide, he said.
“Why are they trying to delay disclosure until after all the lotteries are done?” Abate asked. “It suggests the cabinet just doesn't want any scrutiny on its process. But obviously, this is an important process and the public has a right to know what's going on.”
Some Kentucky hemp farmers — none of which won any of the 16 cultivator licenses in the October lottery — have expressed outrage, saying deep-pocketed marijuana companies were allowed to game the application process and push out in-state applicants.
Beshear dismissed those criticisms shortly after the November lottery, saying the license winners tied to Dark Horse Cannabis named different unaffiliated people as owners in their applications.
The governor did not address the investor presentation of Dark Horse Cannabis that was uncovered by Kentucky Public Radio, which claimed it will be the parent company of a “vertical” in Kentucky that includes cultivator, processor and dispensary licensees. Such an ownership structure is strictly prohibited in Kentucky’s medical cannabis regulations.
While the administration granted a request for the applications of the 36 dispensary license winners from the first nine regions, the full list of the more than 2,840 applicants in these regions remains hidden. Because of this, it is uncertain how many applicants were tied to out-of-state companies, such as Dark Horse Cannabis.
The final lottery for dispensary applicants in regions 1 and 2 — including Louisville and Lexington — will take place on Dec. 16. There are roughly 1,200 applicants in these final two regions.
***** UPDATE *****
Two hours after the publication of this story, the Beshear administration reversed course and turned over the list of dispensary applicants that they previously denied, redacting the applicants for the upcoming December lottery.
“Upon consideration of your email from yesterday, December 5, 2024, and the substance of your appeal to the Attorney General filed the same day, the OMC is providing a record showing the information in your November 25, 2024 Open Records request with the information related to the Bluegrass and Kentuckiana regions redacted,” Lynch wrote.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
