justaevolvedchimp1784552507

The math is brutal. An Illinois dispensary sells a one-gram vaporizer cartridge for $24. Inside Kentucky, that exact same product costs $130.

The state just cut off the one lifeline patients had. On July 1, officials banned registered users from bringing legally purchased medical marijuana across state lines. Now patients are completely trapped in a local market that barely exists.

Kentucky launched legal sales in December but heavily choked its own supply chain. State law allowed only 16 cultivation licenses. Out of 48 total licensed dispensaries, only 17 are currently operating. An estimated 400,000 residents are eligible, but the state has built infrastructure for a fraction of that.

Regulators promise prices will drop once more growers come online. But for the people relying on this for critical pain management right now, patience is an expense they literally cannot afford.