Kentucky Medical Marijuana Cultivator Brings in Half-Grown Plants to Speed Up Harvest
A Kentucky medical marijuana cultivator, Armory Kentucky LLC, has brought in thousands of half-grown plants to speed up the harvest process, according to a report by Kentucky Public Radio. The company, which won a cultivator license in the state’s first medical cannabis lottery last year, has imported the plants from an unknown location and expects to have them ready for harvest in two months.
The move is expected to hasten the timeline for when some medical cannabis will be available in dispensaries, which could be as early as October. However, it’s unlikely that the initial inventory will be enough to meet the demand of the 11,000 Kentuckians who have been approved for a medical cannabis card.
Armory Kentucky’s decision to import half-grown plants instead of starting from seeds is unusual, as most companies start their inventory with seeds, seedlings, or clones. The company’s attorney, Bradley Clark, said that the regulators were open to the idea and that it will allow them to quickly produce medical cannabis products for sale.
The importation of half-grown plants has raised concerns about the potential risks of bringing in issues with genetics, contaminants, or bugs. However, Clark said that the company has taken steps to ensure the quality of the plants and that they are healthy and free of contaminants.
The move has also sparked criticism from local farmers who were denied a cultivator license in the lottery. Michael Adair, a farmer who owns six acres of greenhouses outside of Paris, said that he could have started growing medical cannabis at the beginning of the year and harvested in the spring, with patients already having access to medicine in dispensaries for months.
Adair has been critical of the lottery process, which he says was rigged in favor of out-of-state companies. He has requested a meeting with Governor Andy Beshear and state officials to discuss a way forward that could help both local farmers and license holders.
The Office of Medical Cannabis has said that it is not tracking the age or origin of the plants, but a spokesperson for the office said that the delivered plants are in the vegetative stage and will transition to the flowering and harvest stages at the facility.
The development comes as the state’s medical cannabis program is still in its early stages. The program was legalized in Kentucky at the beginning of the year, and the first dispensary is expected to open soon. However, the program has faced delays and challenges, including a shortage of licensed cultivators and processors.
