FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Kentucky House made history by passing a medical marijuana bill on Thursday, but the Senate may be harder sell.

President Robert Stivers told WDRB News that senators still have a lot of questions and concerns.

“We understand there are potential positive impacts, but we have to weigh that with the potential detrimental impacts - see if there is sufficient information and study,” Stivers said.  

Stivers said, right now, he cannot guarantee the bill will get a hearing, much less a vote on the Senate floor.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jason Nemes, said he is working to calm the concerns.

“In every ‘no’ over in the Senate, it's an opportunity to get them to a ‘yes.’ We've already done that with a number of them,” said Nemes.

But Senate Democratic floor leader Morgan McGarvey fears politics will cloud the cannabis issue.

“2020 is an election year, and we have a lot of people in more rural districts that might be afraid of supporting a medical marijuana bill, even as restrictive as this one is,” he said.

Majority Caucus Leader Julie Raque Adams said the fate of medical marijuana could very well on depend on what senators hear from voters at home.

“It is truly the number one issue I've heard about this session,” said Adams.

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has little voice in the Republican senate, but said he will use his bully pulpit to try and rally support.

“As it moves to the senate, we haven't heard a lot out of them about where it is, but I will certainly do what I can,” Beshear said.

Ultimately the health of the medical marijuana bill will depend on the political temperature of the Kentucky Senate.

“We want to know the intensity. We want to take the gauge, the pulse. And that's what we'll do next week,” said Stivers.

Stivers has said there could be a narrow path forward for medical marijuana in the Senate. Nemes believes his bill tracks that narrow path.

“I believe that even if the vote were taken today, it would pass,” said Nemes. “That’s not good enough. We need to get more, and we will get more.”

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