(1) The Kentucky Center for Cannabis is hereby established at the University of Kentucky to advance the study of the use of cannabis and cannabis derivatives for the treatment of certain medical conditions and diseases as indicated and recommended by the center’s advisory board.
(2) The role and mission of the center shall be to:

Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 164.983

  • Federal: refers to the United States. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Institution: means a university, college, community college, health technology center, vocational-technical school, technical institute, technical college, technology center, or the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. See Kentucky Statutes 164.001
  • Public: means operated with state support. See Kentucky Statutes 164.001
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes territories, outlying possessions, and the District of Columbia. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Treatment: when used in a criminal justice context, means targeted interventions
    that focus on criminal risk factors in order to reduce the likelihood of criminal behavior. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
  • Year: means calendar year. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010

(a) Conduct and fund research related to cannabis and cannabis derivatives; (b) Conduct and fund research related to the health effects, including the
potential risks or side effects, of the use of cannabis and cannabis
derivatives;
(c) Conduct and fund research related to the efficacy and potential health effects of various cannabis delivery methods, including but not limited to vaporizing, ingestibles, topical applications, and combustion;
(d) Review current and future cannabis research literature, clinical studies, and clinical trials;
(e) Monitor, to the extent that appropriate and sufficient data are available, patient outcomes in states with medicinal cannabis programs; and
(f) Examine, to the extent that sufficient data are available, the health effects of the use of combustible cannabis.
(3) The university shall:
(a) Develop and maintain the center in accordance with its administrative and governing regulations related to the formation of multidisciplinary research centers and institutes;
(b) Establish an internal advisory board to oversee the activities, research agenda, and finances of the center. Members of the advisory board shall be appointed by the president of the University of Kentucky;
(c) Report to the secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Legislative Research Commission by September 1 each year for the preceding fiscal year, outlining the center’s activities and expenditures; and
(d) Ensure that the center complies with subsection (4) of this section. (4) The center shall:
(a) Employ a director and necessary staff;
(b) Seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations from private or public sources to support the role and mission of the center;
(c) Conduct clinical research, clinical studies, and clinical trials as approved by appropriate federal agencies;
(d) Establish an application for individuals interested in participating in cannabis-related clinical research, clinical studies, or clinical trials and a screening protocol to place interested applicants in appropriate research participant pools;
(e) Publicly disseminate the research conducted or funded by the center; (f) Host an annual cannabis research symposium; and
(g) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, and upon request
from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, enter into a memorandum of understanding with the cabinet for data collected by the center or any researcher associated with or funded by the center.
(5) (a) The center may award research funds to any nonprofit Kentucky-based research entity or any Kentucky institution of higher education and any research entity association with such an institution.
(b) If the center awards research funds to any other entity, the center shall use an open, competitive grant application process using national best practices.
(c) Any entity or institution that receives research funds from the center shall present the results of its research at the center’s annual research symposium in the year after the research is concluded and shall, upon request from the center, present an update on any ongoing research at the center’s annual research symposium if the research has not concluded.
(6) The application developed pursuant to subsection (4)(d) of this section shall be made publicly available on the center’s Web site.
(7) The university, the center, and any researcher or staff employed by, associated with, or funded by the center or the university shall immediately notify the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Legislative Research Commission of any imminent or serious public health risk, or potentially imminent or serious public health risk, associated with cannabis identified as part of a research project associated with or approved by the center or the university’s internal review board.
(8) If at any time the Commonwealth establishes a medicinal cannabis program, the application to receive a medicinal cannabis card shall include a question asking whether the patient is interested in participating in clinical research conducted by the center. If the patient indicates his or her interest in participating in the center’s research, the department or state agency responsible for approving medicinal cannabis cards is authorized to share the patient’s name, phone number, and address with the center.
Effective:April 26, 2022
History: Created 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 239, sec. 3, effective April 26, 2022.
Legislative Research Commission Note (4/26/2022). The language in this statute has been modified in codification from the way it was enacted in order to reflect the Governor sline-item veto of 2022 House Bill 604 (2022 Ky. Acts ch. 239, sec. 3).