LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Signs have popped up across Louisville advertising medical marijuana 'cards,' with a phone number listed.
WHAS11 tracked the number to the Kentucky Cannabis Clinic, based in Missouri. It's opened up shop in the Highlands of Louisville, but we found no doctors are actually working in-person at the storefront location listed online.
Patients are charged nearly $150 dollars an appointment for a medical marijuana 'certification,' which doesn't exist yet, approved through video chat. We found the promises being made are misleading.
When WHAS11 visited the location on multiple occasions during business hours, the door was locked and no one answered when we knocked. Looking inside through the window, nothing could be seen that resembled a medical clinic.
When we called the phone number, a company representative told us their two current doctors operate through telehealth, saying they're licensed in Kentucky but based in Missouri.
Matthew Bratcher, executive director of Kentucky NORML, told WHAS11 "some of the folks we've talked to really feel confused."
“They’ll call us after the fact and say, 'If I'd known all this, I wouldn’t have spent that money,'" said Bratcher, whose group advocates for medical marijuana reform in the state. "And to me, that seems shady."
The website reads, “Get legal in three simple steps," citing Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s executive order from November 2022.
“It’s concerning because if you’re advertising a card, there is no card," Beshear said in a sit-down interview in December 2023.
The executive order opened the door for patients with approved medical conditions to purchase a certain amount of marijuana legally out of state, and bring it back into Kentucky.
The key though is the order only works as a pardon. People would be forgiven if arrested on a possession charge, but technically, until the medical marijuana program launches in 2025 -- no document keeps you immune from legal fees or even jail time.
For more information on what's needed to be pardoned under the executive order, and what you would need for the 2025 program, click here.
"You can just get a letter of diagnosis from your doctor and that works the same; you really shouldn’t have to pay for one of these things," Bratcher said. “If you’re sick and you’ve got one of these qualifying conditions, all you need is your doctor to be like, 'Yes, you have this.' Not to be like, ‘My patient can get cannabis.' That’s not what that’s about. It’s whether or not you fit.”
Bratcher continued, "A lot of people think they’re becoming legal, and there’s still that illegality there. Cannabis is still illegal for possession.”
When WHAS11 asked Beshear if his administration is going to be looking into this company specifically, he answered, "we need to."
"It’s important, especially early on, when these things come about – if they’re not legal, that you make a statement," he said. "And it’s important if they’re not, to get them shut down early and not let it continue.”
WHAS11 reached out to the Kentucky Cannabis Clinic directly by email, asking for comment on how they operate. We didn't get a response.
WHAS11 also asked Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman's office if they're investigating the company, to which they wouldn't confirm. But in a statement, his office said, "We know there are bad actors eager to take advantage of well-meaning Kentuckians in this new sector, and we encourage anyone who suspects potential scams or fraud to contact our office right away for help."
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) said its lead investigator tried to contact the business to learn more about what they do, and never got a response. The BBB also pointed out the company has modified some of the language on their website since their inquiry.
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