President Trump just signed an executive order directing federal agencies to reclassify cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. This rescheduling will be an official acknowledgement by the Feds of the medical utility and lower abuse potential already recognized by patients, the scientific community, and the majority of U.S. states. While this move will hopefully lead to expanded patient access and provide tax relief for businesses, it will not resolve all the current conflicts between state and federal laws.

In Kentucky, it is unlawful to drive under the influence of any drug that impairs driving ability. Cannabis is included in that definition, and Kentucky’s law equally applies to non-medical and patients registered in the state medical cannabis program. People who are observed by law enforcement to be unsafely driving may be pulled over and administered a field sobriety test. Kentucky’s implied consent law states that any person operating a car automatically consents to chemical tests if an officer has reasonable grounds to believe a DUI has occurred. To prove the presence of cannabis, investigators must obtain a warrant and collect a blood sample. There is no breath analysis test like there is for alcohol. Kentucky defines the upper limit of THC as 5 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) of blood. For reference, 1 nanogram is one billionth of a gram.

Ohio became the twenty-fourth state to legalize adult-use cannabis when its residents approved a ballot measure in November 2023. This measure comes eight years after Ohio’s approval of a medical cannabis program in 2016.