How to check a Kentucky medical cannabis dispensary

1. Make sure your registry card is current

You need a registry ID card from OMC to buy medical cannabis. A card costs $25 and lasts one year, unless your practitioner set an earlier end date.¹ OMC says to send a renewal at least 30 days before the card expires. If you don’t renew in time, the card stops being valid on its expiration date.²

Away from home, keep medical cannabis in the container it came in from the dispensary, and carry your card.² Visitors 21 and older can buy with a medical card from another state plus proof of a qualifying diagnosis.¹

OMC: patients and caregivers

2. Check the dispensary on OMC’s list

OMC lists the dispensaries that are open, with each one’s legal name, store name (“DBA”), address and the date it opened. The same page has a Dispensary Directory you can search by name, address, city or county.³ State rules say no one may sell medical cannabis without an OMC license.⁶

1. Go to OMC’s Find a Dispensary page .
2. Look for the store under Dispensary Updates. It lists the dispensaries that are open.³
3. Check that the store name and street address match. Licensed dispensaries may later ask to move, so a new address is not always a red flag.³ If the address doesn’t match, check again before you buy.
4. Not every licensed dispensary is open yet. In the Dispensary Directory, OMC suggests searching operational to find open stores.³

OMC also keeps a full list of every licensed cannabis business. A business OMC has cleared to operate has three asterisks (***) after its name.⁴ Find it on OMC’s licensee list .

3. At the store or at your door

• ID check. The dispensary must check that your card is valid and look at a second government photo ID.⁷ You must be 18 to go in, and only cardholders may enter, with a few exceptions.⁶
• Advisory pamphlet. The first time you buy at a dispensary, it must give you the state’s Medicinal Cannabis Advisory Pamphlet and have you sign for it.⁷
• Delivery. Licensed dispensaries may deliver between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., only to the Kentucky address on file for you. The driver checks the card of the person who ordered, and you sign a receipt.⁸

4. Check the label

The package must be child-resistant and carry the state’s navy blue cannabis symbol. The label must list the THC and CBD amounts, the grower and processor with license numbers, the batch number, the testing lab and test date, and an expiration date. The dispensary adds a sticker with its name, license number and phone number.⁹

Raw plant material must say “NOT INTENDED FOR CONSUMPTION BY SMOKING.”⁹ Smoking cannabis is not protected by Kentucky’s medical cannabis law.¹⁰

Warning signs

• Anyone else selling “medical cannabis.” OMC says medical cannabis is sold only at dispensaries it licenses.⁵
• Vapes sold to someone under 21. Dispensaries may not sell vaping products to cardholders under 21.⁷
• Edibles over 10 mg of THC per serving. Edibles, oils and tinctures may not go over 10 mg of delta-9 THC per serving.⁷
• Packages that look like candy or snack brands. Packages may not look like food brands or use cartoons that appeal to kids.⁹

If something doesn’t look right

You can file a complaint with OMC about a person, business or product in the medical cannabis program. Use one form for each event. Questions about the form go to OMC.¹²

If a product made you sick and it is not an emergency, talk to your health care provider. Then report it to OMC online or at 502-564-7907 . Include a photo of the product and label, or your receipt. If a child eats medical cannabis by accident, call the Kentucky Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222 . In an emergency, call 911.¹³

File a complaint with OMC · How to report a problem