LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – Kentucky took its first steps into the medical marijuana business Monday afternoon. The first licenses were awarded by drawing to companies that will grow and process marijuana.

People who have obtained these licenses will end up spending a lot of money before the first seed is planted.

WAVE News spoke with a Hancock County farmer who decided to give it a try.

Paul Glover got into the hemp business, growing green produce on his farm near Hawesville. When the state approved medical marijuana, he decided to go all in.

“It’s intimidating at best,” Grover said. “It’s just a lot of paperwork that had to be resolved.”

Glover paid a non-refundable $10,000 filing fee and spent months and more taking care of all the documentation. He applied for a Tier 2 cultivator license, which would allow him to grow 10,000 square feet of medical marijuana.

But when it came time for the lottery, the odds were against him. He was just one of 174 candidates vying for four licenses.

“It’s discouraging. What concerns me most is how many people in the state have obtained these licenses? » said Grover.

Gov. Andy Beshear explained that farms and jobs should be in Kentucky, not homeowners.

“They have to grow here, they have to process here, they have to distribute here,” Beshear said. “So all the employees from the Kentucky-based operations will be here.”

So when the time came for the number-generating machines to produce random winners, the recipients were read aloud by number and company name.

Paul Glover, who knew it was impossible, was not among them.

“It’s luck,” Grover said. “It’s a lottery. Have you won the lottery recently?

The answer to Grover’s question is no.

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