Medical marijuana cultivator opens for business in KY. When do sales start?
After clearing a state inspection last week, a Western Kentucky medical cannabis cultivator is officially in business.
Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration announced the news Tuesday, revealing the Graves County-based Armory Kentucky LLC officially began cultivation operations Friday, July 11. As part of the announcement, the administration shared video footage of plants arriving by the truckload, with many more plants under roof at Armory Kentucky’s facility in Mayfield.
Licensed as a tier 2 cultivator, Armory Kentucky can operate a growing space of up to 10,000 square feet, per state rules.
Medical cannabis sales have yet not begun in Kentucky. In January, the state’s Office of Medical Cannabis began accepting applications from qualifying patients seeking to become registered cardholders.
As of July 8, more than 11,000 Kentuckians have successfully applied for and received medical cannabis cards, according to figures from the Kentucky Office for Medical Cannabis.
In recent weeks, the state has been conducting site visits for cultivators, with approvals to follow, a spokesperson for the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services recently told the Herald-Leader.
Additional businesses, including processors and testing labs, are expected to begin operations in the coming weeks, Beshear’s administration said in the announcement Tuesday.
“We are pleased to see the progress that has been made,” said Cannon Armstrong, executive director of the Office of Medical Cannabis. “We look forward to working with all of our other licensees to get them up and operational as soon as possible.”
When will medical marijuana sales begin in Kentucky?
Several industry insiders who’ve spoken with the Herald-Leader, including two Arkansas entrepreneurs behind a planned Lexington dispensary, say they are preparing for sales to begin in late 2025.
Bradley Clark, a Lexington cannabis law attorney who represents several businesses across Kentucky, including the Mayfield cultivator, said he anticipates sales will begin in October.
Clark told the Herald-Leader Tuesday that Armory Kentucky has about 2,600 plants at its facility.
“We believe these are the first legal marijuana plants in the state of Kentucky since 1938, outside of a few small, limited research programs,” Clark told the Herald-Leader in an interview Tuesday. “I know that there’s been a lot of concern about how long it’s taken, but rest easy knowing that now that these plants are here and the process is starting, we will have product on the shelf very soon.”
Given the maturity of the plants at Armory Kentucky’s facility, its first harvest could be in about nine weeks, a state official told the Herald-Leader Tuesday.
Under Kentucky’s medical cannabis law, passed in 2023, all marijuana sold in the commonwealth must be grown, tested and processed in the state.
This story was originally published July 15, 2025 at 1:33 PM.