A northern Kentucky state lawmaker who didn’t run for reelection in November is the first executive director of the newly formed Kentucky Cannabis Industry Alliance. Rachel Roberts is a Democrat from Newport and the House minority whip through the end of the year. She said her experience in the state legislature helped prepare her for this new role. “As soon as I got into office, about five years ago, I started carrying a full adult use cannabis bill. And while we are certainly talking about medical here with the Alliance, that bill and creating everything that went around that was really a crash course in cannabis business in the United States.” Roberts is also a business owner, and said the alliance aims to represent the wide variety of players in Kentucky’s medical cannabis industry. “There’s the cultivators, the processors, the dispensaries that everyone is probably thinking of. But there’s also the ancillary businesses, there’s practitioners and medical providers, you know, law firms that specialize in these kinds of things, transportation companies. So there’s a lot of ancillary businesses.” Roberts said the alliance will begin with license holders, then likely grow to include those ancillary businesses. Kentucky Cannabis Industry Alliance ** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation. The post Outgoing state House minority whip will lead new medical cannabis trade group appeared first on The Lexington Times.