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Law Utah

Medical marijuana patients in Utah face difficulties after legalization

As Utah prepares to launch its medical marijuana program next year, residents who want to use the drug in the meantime are encountering skeptical doctors and the quandary of where to get the plant.

A law passed by the Utah Legislature in December 2018 allows residents to use medical marijuana before patient cards are officially doled out, which is expected to happen in March 2020 at the earliest, but they must obtain a signed letter of recommendation from a doctor, physician’s assistant or other medical provider.
Finding a doctor willing to do that has been difficult because of stigmas and fear surrounding medical marijuana, said Christine Stenquist, the director and founder of advocacy group Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education, or TRUCE.

And, the doctor’s letter doesn’t specify how patients can legally obtain medical marijuana. Although growers are beginning to cultivate the plant throughout the state, residents still can’t legally purchase medical marijuana in Utah, forcing them to drive several hours to states where the drug is legal or turn to the black market.
Mitch Hill, 48, began using medical marijuana two months ago to treat the severe back pain he’s dealt with for 10 years. It took Hill six months and three doctors to obtain a signed recommendation letter.

“Our family doctor didn’t even want to talk about it, they wanted nothing to do with it,” said Hill, a construction superintendent from the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan.

Hill drives five hours to the nearest dispensary in Colorado a few times a month to purchase medical marijuana.
Juggling work, children and his throbbing back, the trip is “a massive pain in the butt,” he said.

He turned to marijuana because he said opioids and other painkillers turned him into a “walking zombie,” feeling groggy, fatigued and nauseous. Medical marijuana helps his pain dissipate and relax, Hill said. He’s able to be more productive in his job and take care of his children.
“The letter has been a great thing for our family,” Hill said.

State health officials aren’t tracking how many people have doctor’s letters allowing them to use medical marijuana, but it appears there are thousands at least based on information from major medical providers and advocates.

The letters are a “stop-gap measure” before the state’s official medical marijuana program is launched, Evan Vickers, the Senate Republican Majority Leader, said.
“We wanted to try and give patients access to the medication as soon as possible,” he added.

He said the formal program will make it much easier for people to get and use medical marijuana, eliminating trips to neighboring states and long searches for willing doctors.

Patients must meet a list of qualifying conditions_cancer, chronic pain and epilepsy are among the most common— and have the product in the correct dosage. Under the current law, this would likely be an oil or capsule. Next year, patients must still follow the dosage requirements but can appeal to a board of medical providers if they don’t meet one of the qualifying conditions.

Utah is one of at least nine states that allowed recommendation letters to protect unregistered patients, according to data from the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington-based group that advocates for legalization.

Chris Lindsey, senior legislative counsel with the Marijuana Policy Project, said the states dealt with similar legal challenges and called the letters a “double-edged sword.”
“It helps sick people get relief, but it can create a false sense of security,” he said. “Moving a controlled substance across state lines is still against federal law, and then it’s up to the patients to defend themselves in court.”

Marijuana is banned at the federal level, though a congressional amendment blocks the Justice Department from interfering with states’ medical marijuana programs.
Patients are putting themselves at potential risk of being arrested for drug-related crimes, advocates said, but it is unclear if law enforcement agencies are citing patients who have letters.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill, the prosecutor in Utah’s most populated county, said he sees the letter as a critical legal tool in deciding whether to press charges in drug-related crimes.

“I have zero desire to prosecute a patient in need for possessing medical cannabis, and I’ve advised prosecutors the same,” Gill said.
Among Utah’s doctors, the letters have received strong, mixed reactions.

Intermountain Healthcare, the state’s largest health provider, began allowing its doctors to write letters in February. While some doctors applauded the move, others said they aren’t comfortable writing the letters, citing lack of research into medical cannabis and its federally illegal status, said Mark Briesacher, the hospital’s chief physician executive.

A growing national outbreak of lung damage linked to unregulated vaping products containing marijuana’s high-inducing ingredient THC have further compounded concerns, he said. In Utah, one person died from a vaping-related injury.

Stenquist expressed frustration with the challenges Utah’s medical cannabis program has faced but said she’s hopeful for a smooth rollout next year.
“Patients don’t want to break the law, they’re just trying to get access to medication,′ she said.
 
Utah picks companies, sites for medical cannabis ‘pharmacies’

Utah health officials plan to award pharmacy licenses to 10 companies to dispense medical cannabis at 14 sites across the state, a major development in the program’s approaching launch. Utah’s medical cannabis program refers to dispensaries as “pharmacies,” emphasizing the program’s medical aspect.


The chosen sites announced Friday by the Department of Health are largely in metro Salt Lake City or elsewhere in northern Utah, but also include two in southern Utah and one in rural eastern Utah.


Along with multiple sites in Salt Lake City, other northern Utah sites include West Bountiful, Ogden, Logan, Park City, Provo, Linden, Springville, and a location that would be Box Elder County, Morgan County, or Rich County.


The southern sites are Cedar City and St. George. The sole site in eastern Utah is Vernal.


The department said some locations could change because of various processes still underway, including site acquisitions, criminal background checks, and reviews of operating plans.


Eight sites may open as early as March while others would open by July, the department said.


The locations were evaluated and chosen through a competitive scoring process from among more than 130 applications from more than 60 companies, the department said.
It was a highly competitive process and some qualified applicants will be left disappointed, but that is the nature of a highly competitive process.
Richard Oborn, Director of the Center for Medical Cannabis

Criteria included medical marijuana experience, regulatory compliance, local community connections, and a strategic plan with a high likelihood of success, the department said.


“It was a highly competitive process and some qualified applicants will be left disappointed, but that is the nature of a highly competitive process,” said Richard Oborn, director of the Center for Medical Cannabis, which is part of the health agency.


Osborn said the selection of the sites is a major milestone for Utah’s launch of its medical cannabis program because it enables companies to “start to verify their locations and hire employees and really make some serious preparations for March when they plan to, when some of them will need to be rolling out.”


Utah voters approved the ballot initiative, Proposition 2, in November 2018 legalizing doctor-approved cannabis treatment for certain health conditions. State lawmakers the next month replaced the measure with a law they said puts tighter controls on the production, distribution, and use of the drug.


Desiree Hennessy, executive director of the Utah Patients Coalition, said Friday’s announcement is welcome because it means the program’s launch is approaching.


“I’m hopeful that this is one of the last pieces of the puzzle that we’re putting in place to get Utah patients the medications that we’ve been fighting for for years,” she said.
 
Utah legislators working on more medical marijuana revisions

Modifications to law would eliminate blister pack requirement, decriminalize previous medical users, sponsor says
A new bill expected to roll out during this legislative session would again modify Utah’s medical marijuana law, changing a controversial form of packaging and decriminalizing previous medical users.
Bill sponsor Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers said the changes maintain a balance between patients’ needs and the compromise reached when legislators passed a replacement to the voter-approved medical marijuana initiative.
“We’re really trying to be very careful. We’re doing a couple of things, one is that we want to preserve the integrity of the compromise we’ve put together, but the ultimate goal is trying to streamline allowing patients to get medication,” explained Vickers, R-Cedar City.
While a bill file has yet to be opened, he said it has been discussed for months between members of the Legislature, pro-marijuana group Libertas Institute, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, the Utah Department of Health and the Utah Medical Association.Major changes to the law, including removing public health workers from being involved in dispensing the medication, were passed during a fall special session. But other, less urgent tweaks were held until this session, Vickers said.
Flower packaging
Utah voters approved ballot initiative Proposition 2 in November 2018 legalizing doctor-approved cannabis treatment for certain health conditions. State lawmakers the next month replaced the measure with a law they said puts tighter controls on the production, distribution and use of the drug.
Among the larger changes to be proposed in the new bill will be a removal of the controversial requirement that raw marijuana flower be packaged and sold in blister packs.
“No other state requires this, and it was part of what came out of the negotiations over Prop. 2 to preserve flower in the law,” said Connor Boyack, Libertas Institute president.
The bill will propose using glass jars or another type of container for the storage of raw cannabis flower. The buds will still need to be measured in a consistent amount, and the jars will show the purchase and expiration dates, after which using the marijuana becomes illegal.
Vickers emphasized that though the bill would remove the blister pack requirement, the flower will still need to be sold in sealed, secure containers “whether it be a glass jar or another type of container.”
Boyack called the change “significant.”
“Because the use of blister packs threatened to substantially increase the price without any real strong benefit for public safety or regulation, and so we’re easing up on that, and have built up some consensus from the stakeholders to move in that direction,” Boyack said.
Advocates were also concerned the process of packaging the marijuana in blister packs would reduce the potency of the medicine, as it is “very sticky” and the medicine components are on the exterior of the plant, according to Boyack.
According to Adam Laikin, chief of marketing for medical marijuana cultivator Tryke Companies Utah, the company — which has also applied for a processor’s license — supports the change.
“We’ve found through our experience in other states that glass jars are, certainly for the freshness and quality of the product, the optimal solution that we’ve come across. And I think, just from a logistical standpoint, we had concerns that a blister pack, how that was going to be executed, and potentially to be pushing that product out of the blister pack, you could degrade that product, you could cause it to crush,” Laikin said.
He said Tryke has harvested its first crop in Tooele and has found the process of getting started in Utah smooth. The grower allowed media to tour its facility Thursday.
Vickers, a pharmacist by trade, called that potential degrading of the plant the biggest concern leading to the proposed change.
Utah Medical Association, an early opponent of the medical marijuana initiative, confirmed it is working with Vickers and co-sponsor Rep. Brad Daw, R-Orem, on the bill.
“We have no further comment at this time,” an organization spokesman said in a statement.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, another early opponent of the medical marijuana initiative, did not have a comment about the new bill.
Decriminalization of medical marijuana users
The new bill will call for expungement of criminal charges for past users who had a qualifying medical need for marijuana — and used forms now approved under the law — before the law passed in Utah.
Approved conditions in the law as written now include HIV, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cancer and cachexia (wasting of the body due to chronic illness). Other qualifying conditions include persistent nausea unrelated to conditions like pregnancy, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“The bottom line is, we don’t want to punish someone that is a legitimate patient using a legitimate medication. Now, if they‘re using the medication illegitimately, or they’re using some kind of a recreational product ... that’s a different deal. But we do not want to punish legitimate patients that are using legitimate medication,” Vickers explained.
Another aspect of the bill will address the issue of people facing prosecution when they’re no longer impaired but the marijuana metabolite remains in their system.
Any Utahn can go to Colorado or wherever recreational marijuana is legal and use it there. But the marijuana metabolite remains in one’s system for up to a month, Boyack said. Under current law, if someone in Utah has that metabolite in their system while driving, they are breaking the law, he said.
Proposition 2 contained an “affirmative defense” for medical cannabis users so that if the metabolite was discovered in their system by law enforcement, they could defend themselves in court, according to Boyack. A similar defense was not included in the replacement bill.
“Unfortunately, right now, there’s some cases where someone is being penalized for having an inactive metabolite in their system where it really isn’t affecting their cognitive functions or anything, but yet it’s still evidence that there’s some cannabis there,” Vickers said.
Some within the past several months in Utah have also faced legal ramifications for having CBD in their system — which is legal under national law and sold over the counter. Legally, CBD can contain less than .3% content of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana. But when people consume enough CBD over time, trace THC can accumulate in their body, causing them to fail a drug test, Boyack said.
The bill would ensure that someone can only be prosecuted under the metabolite law if the metabolite is “pharmacologically active,” meaning it can still create impairment.
Dosing requirements, doctor shortages
Another part of the proposed law would change dosing “parameters” to dosing “guidelines,” Boyack said, meaning instead of prescribing a fixed amount, doctors would be allowed to prescribe under a broader set of guidelines with flexibility for patients to “vary and adjust based on their own observations of how it’s affecting them.”
“Different patients respond differently to the same cannabis, even for the same conditions. So there’s a lot of variability, and patients tend to adjust the amount that they’re taking based on the response that they get,” he said.
Vickers said patients will still need to receive instructions about how much to use, how to take it, the frequency and dosing application.
“The challenge is, it doesn’t really matter whether it comes from the physician directly to the pharmacist, or the pharmacist working in conjunction with the physician, at the end of the day, that product still has to go to the patient with their clear understanding how to use the product, just like any other prescription medication,” Vickers explained.
The bill also will try to address the issue of a potential shortage of doctors willing to prescribe marijuana by decreasing or eliminating a cap on how many prescriptions a doctor can issue. Boyack said advocates so far have struggled to help patients find doctors willing to prescribe.
Vickers said that aspect of the bill is still being discussed.
“We don’t want to get in a situation where a handful of doctors are doing all the recommendations for the prescriptions, but we still want to have an avenue for a physician working in that arena, that they can take care of a decent patient population,” Vickers said.
He expressed optimism that the changes will pass.
Though Vickers said the changes aren’t as urgent as those passed during the special session, he’d like to get the changes in place as soon as possible.
Boyack also believes the bill “absolutely” will have a chance of passing.
“We’ve been talking with stakeholders about this. This isn’t a sneak attack, this isn’t an aggressive push forward. This is something that we’ve been talking to the various interested parties about. So we continue to drive this through consensus,” Boyack said.
Though advocates might call for bigger steps in the future, including adding more medical conditions eligible for treatment, Boyack said they are waiting to see how the law plays out once it goes into effect in March.
“We’ve excited to continue improving it, and we think patients are going to be very pleased with what’s in this bill,” Boyack said.
 
Utah opens first medical marijuana dispensary
The mostly Republican state now has marijuana available for qualifying patients.

The first medical marijuana dispensary in Utah opened on Monday as part of a recently implemented law allowing those with select health conditions to use the drug.

The process involves first receiving a doctor’s recommendation from one of 60 approved health care providers and applying online in a patient portal to get a medical marijuana card, Rich Oborn, the director of Utah’s Center for Medical Cannabis, told the Associated Press.

The first legal dispensary, Dragonfly Wellness, opened in Salt Lake City. A second dispensary is expected to open in March, with an additional seven opening by June and the last five in July, which will be called pharmacies.

“We’ve got a number of different community advocates that have been fighting for patient rights and fighting for our community so that way people have a safer alternative to medicine,” said Narith Panh, the chief strategy officer on Dragonfly Wellness. “This is for them today, too.”

Utah citizens voted to legalize marijuana for medical purposes in November 2018, making it the 33rd state to do so. Under the ballot initiative Proposition 2, patients with select health conditions can access marijuana for treatment with a doctor’s approval.

Some of the conditions eligible for marijuana treatment will be chronic pain and cancer, as well as mental illnesses such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Critics of the new clinics were reportedly assuaged with a compromise: that public health workers will not have to dispense the medication, as well as updating packaging to bring down costs.

Wade Laughter, director of cannabis wellness at Dragonfly Wellness, emphasized that Utah’s legislation allows it to be a pioneer in legalizing marijuana exclusively for medical use.

“To me, Utah, by its insistence on no recreational — we’re doing medical — there’s an opportunity for our culture to actually understand that it’s not just about getting high,” Laughter said.
 
Utah Lawmakers Amend Medical Cannabis Laws To Grant Access To More Patients

More patients in Utah will have access to the state’s new medical marijuana program thanks to new changes to the law finalized on Wednesday.

The state’s Department of Health announced that under legislation by the Utah legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Gary Herbert, “qualifying patients who do not have a medical cannabis card but have a ‘recommendation letter’ from their medical provider may purchase medical cannabis until December 31, 2020.
“A patient who purchases medical cannabis using a recommendation letter must purchase all of their medical cannabis from the same pharmacy until they obtain a medical cannabis card from the Utah Department of Health,” said Richard Oborn, the health department’s cannabis policy director.

The Utah Department of Health outlined four requirements for a patient to obtain medical marijuana with a recommendation letter: the patient must live in Utah; the patient’s recommendation letter must be presented at the medical cannabis pharmacy, and it must come from a licensed medical professional—which can include a medical doctor, osteopathic physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant—in the states where the patient has been diagnosed with the qualifying condition; the pharmacy must in turn receive confirmation from the patient’s medical provider to validate the recommendation letter; and the patient must provide a valid form of photo identification to the medical cannabis pharmacy such as a driver’s license, a United States passport or passport card, or a United States military identification card.

Medical Cannabis in The Beehive State
Voters in Utah approved a referendum legalizing medical marijuana in 2018, making it the 33rd state to do so.

But the lead-up to the program’s March launch has been hamstrung by a series of delays. After voters approved the measure 53 percent to 47 percent, Utah legislators immediately began work on a compromise bill to overwrite the proposal approved at the ballot. The bill passed and was signed into law during a special session in December 2018, dramatically limiting the scope of the measure approved by a majority of voters only a month earlier.

Marijuana advocates challenged the bill in court, but the lawsuit was thrown out by the Utah Supreme Court in August. Justice Paige Petersen, writing for the court’s majority, ruled that while the state’s constitution “creates and protects the voters’ right to place legislation on the ballot for approval or rejection by the people, it also carves out an exception to that right.”

The state’s first dispensary opened March 2 in Salt Lake City. State officials said last month that they would award dispensary licenses to 10 different companies at 14 separate sites throughout Utah.
 
Medical Cannabis Drive-thru Begins in Utah

A line of patients had already started to form outside Perfect Earth Modern Apothecary before their doors opened at 11 a.m. Tuesday morning. According to staff, this has been the norm since Utah’s newest medical cannabis pharmacy started selling products less than a month ago.

Driving past them in a black 2012 Volkswagen Touareg, South Ogden resident Fernando Lopez, didn’t bother pulling into any of the available parking spaces at the pharmacy’s location at 3775 S. Wall Avenue – he had special cargo with him.

Utah medical cannabis patient Nicole McGarry, left, and friend Fernando Lopez, wait to receive medical cannabis in the drive thru at Perfect Earth Modern Apothecary on Tuesday, May 26, 2020, in Ogden. McGarry was the first patient to use Perfect Earth’s drive thru during it’s grand opening Tuesday morning. Photo Credit – Matt Herp
Riding shotgun was Utah medical cannabis patient and Proposition 2 advocate, Nicole McGarry. She’s taking a different route to get her usual medicine by utilizing the drive-thru window to purchase her cannabis flower instead of waiting in line.

It’s not quite as convenient as a late-night Taco Bell run, but if you’re a medical cannabis patient in Utah, picking up supplies at your local pharmacy just got much easier.

As of Tuesday, both Dragonfly Wellness and Perfect Earth Modern Apothecary medical cannabis pharmacies will be offering drive-thru services for returning patients.

“I feel so much safer visiting the pharmacy now and I think that a lot of other patients with weak immune systems, like me, will too,” said McGarry through a safety mask and car window after purchasing some Sundae Driver cannabis flower.

McGarry was selected by pharmacy staff at Perfect Earth to be the symbolic first to use the new services in honor of her dedicated backing of Proposition 2 and her use of medical cannabis in her heroic battle against her illness.

Last week, Salt Baked City featured McGarry’s struggle with gastroparesis, which lead to her using medical cannabis, instead of 27 prescribed medications, to thwart the many ailments stemming from her stomach disease.

“I was literally bed-bound for two years and slated to die by my doctors,” McGarry said. “Now that the prescription drug fog has been lifted, I can function on cannabis. If you would have tried to talk to me a year ago on my opiates, I might not have been able to form a complete sentence.”

Dragonfly Wellness, located at 711 S. State Street in Salt Lake City was the first in Utah to offer drive-thru services. They opened this service on Memorial Day to honor veteran medical cannabis patients.

Patients are still required to obtain a medical card or a recommendation letter from a qualified medical practitioner before visiting a Utah pharmacy. Step-by-step instructions on how to obtain a card or letter can be found on the Utah Department of Health website.Pharmacy operators also warn those visiting their locations for the first time still need to visit with a pharmacist inside before using the drive-thru services.

“We’re so excited to finally have drive-thru service available for our many Ogden patients,” said Tim Pearl, Director of Operations at Perfect Earth. “Our staff has put a lot of work into making sure our at-risk patients are able to practice social distancing during these difficult times.”

The pharmacy had 15 vehicles utilize their drive-thru Tuesday, according to Mario Enriquez, Perfect Earth Medical Cannabis Associate.

Returning patients to local pharmacies that are using the drive-thru can either order through the window, located outside the old bank teller stalls, or call in their orders beforehand.

Dragonfly Wellness has an online option to place orders on their website, and another to view available inventory before visiting. Cash is still required for all purchases.

Both locations are open 11 a.m. to 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday.
 
Medical Cannabis Drive-thru Begins in Utah

A line of patients had already started to form outside Perfect Earth Modern Apothecary before their doors opened at 11 a.m. Tuesday morning. According to staff, this has been the norm since Utah’s newest medical cannabis pharmacy started selling products less than a month ago.

Driving past them in a black 2012 Volkswagen Touareg, South Ogden resident Fernando Lopez, didn’t bother pulling into any of the available parking spaces at the pharmacy’s location at 3775 S. Wall Avenue – he had special cargo with him.

Utah medical cannabis patient Nicole McGarry, left, and friend Fernando Lopez, wait to receive medical cannabis in the drive thru at Perfect Earth Modern Apothecary on Tuesday, May 26, 2020, in Ogden. McGarry was the first patient to use Perfect Earth’s drive thru during it’s grand opening Tuesday morning. Photo Credit – Matt Herp
Riding shotgun was Utah medical cannabis patient and Proposition 2 advocate, Nicole McGarry. She’s taking a different route to get her usual medicine by utilizing the drive-thru window to purchase her cannabis flower instead of waiting in line.

It’s not quite as convenient as a late-night Taco Bell run, but if you’re a medical cannabis patient in Utah, picking up supplies at your local pharmacy just got much easier.

As of Tuesday, both Dragonfly Wellness and Perfect Earth Modern Apothecary medical cannabis pharmacies will be offering drive-thru services for returning patients.

“I feel so much safer visiting the pharmacy now and I think that a lot of other patients with weak immune systems, like me, will too,” said McGarry through a safety mask and car window after purchasing some Sundae Driver cannabis flower.

McGarry was selected by pharmacy staff at Perfect Earth to be the symbolic first to use the new services in honor of her dedicated backing of Proposition 2 and her use of medical cannabis in her heroic battle against her illness.

Last week, Salt Baked City featured McGarry’s struggle with gastroparesis, which lead to her using medical cannabis, instead of 27 prescribed medications, to thwart the many ailments stemming from her stomach disease.

“I was literally bed-bound for two years and slated to die by my doctors,” McGarry said. “Now that the prescription drug fog has been lifted, I can function on cannabis. If you would have tried to talk to me a year ago on my opiates, I might not have been able to form a complete sentence.”

Dragonfly Wellness, located at 711 S. State Street in Salt Lake City was the first in Utah to offer drive-thru services. They opened this service on Memorial Day to honor veteran medical cannabis patients.

Patients are still required to obtain a medical card or a recommendation letter from a qualified medical practitioner before visiting a Utah pharmacy. Step-by-step instructions on how to obtain a card or letter can be found on the Utah Department of Health website.Pharmacy operators also warn those visiting their locations for the first time still need to visit with a pharmacist inside before using the drive-thru services.

“We’re so excited to finally have drive-thru service available for our many Ogden patients,” said Tim Pearl, Director of Operations at Perfect Earth. “Our staff has put a lot of work into making sure our at-risk patients are able to practice social distancing during these difficult times.”

The pharmacy had 15 vehicles utilize their drive-thru Tuesday, according to Mario Enriquez, Perfect Earth Medical Cannabis Associate.

Returning patients to local pharmacies that are using the drive-thru can either order through the window, located outside the old bank teller stalls, or call in their orders beforehand.

Dragonfly Wellness has an online option to place orders on their website, and another to view available inventory before visiting. Cash is still required for all purchases.

Both locations are open 11 a.m. to 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday.
No drive thru that I'm aware of in MD, but lots of curbside pickup where they come out to your car, mask and gloves on, to deliver an order made online. Works very well.

Cheers
 
We NEWSLOCAL NEWS

First medical marijuana pharmacy in Utah County set to open soon




A ribbon cutting ceremony marks the opening of the first medical marijuana pharmacy in Utah By: Scott McKane
Posted at 11:55 AM, Aug 21, 2020

and last updated 10:55 AM, Aug 21, 2020
PROVO, Utah — The first medical marijuana pharmacy in Utah County will open later this month.
Deseret Wellness will open in Provo Aug. 31, but FOX 13’s Scott McKane got a preview tour Friday.
At a ribbon cutting event, operators stressed that it is pain management and medical treatment facility which is needed by a lot of Utahns. Voters approved Proposition 2 back in 2018, but the Utah Legislature overwhelmingly voted to override it.
The Utah Patient’s Coalition, which sponsored Prop 2, worked with lawmakers to come up with a “compromise” bill which was passed and signed into law by Governor Gary Herbert.

Lawmakers recognized that Utah voters stated loud and clear that they wanted medical marijuana to be available.
The state and Utah County in particular have been devastated by opioid and heroin addiction.
The hope is that medical cannabis will be a viable option to traditional pain medications and will also be a valid treatment for a host of other maladies.
Don’t expect to drop by the pharmacy and buy some recreational marijuana.
“No, no, no! This is medical marijuana, we use it as a treatment,” said Josh Fitzgerald, who manages the pharmacy for Deseret Wellness. “It’s to help treat specific diseases that the state has allowed us to treat. We’re not here to get people high, we’re here to treat their illnesses.”

“For the last six to seven years, we have dealt with patients that are just needing another option or they have been using cannabis in secret knowing that it would work but they want it to be legal,” Desiree Hennessy with the Utah Patient Coalition said. “As these pharmacies open up, we are seeing patients that are no longer hiding, they’re getting the relief they’ve needed and it’s beautiful.”
When Deseret Wellness opens, patients will need a medical marijuana card or letter from a doctor to enter the building.
There will also be strict security along with rooms to consult with a pharmacist regarding specific medical needs.
As of mid-August, more than 8,200 Utahns have a medical marijuana card.

Deseret Wellness is scheduled to open a second pharmacy in Park City later this year.
By the end of 2020, patients will be able to access one of five medical marijuana pharmacies in Utah with a letter from their doctor.
The Utah Department of Health says more than 6,000 residents of the state already have those letters.
 
Cash No Longer Necessary for Utah Cannabis Patients
A new app will enable Utah’s medical cannabis patients to pay for their meds without cash.

Utah medical cannabis patients have gotten used to a cash-only system, as many banks and credit card companies still refuse to work with cannabis businesses. Now, in light of the hassle and potential theft risk that causes, as well as sanitation risks due to COVID, a new app that allows for cashless transactions is being rolled out.

“People want a very similar experience to what they have with CVS or REI or anywhere else, where you do curbside pickup,” said Chris Jeffrey, managing partner and CEO of WholesomeCo Cannabis, the company that runs West Bountiful pharmacy. “Avoiding the whole need for cash is something that consumers want.”

This new system will be helpful, as it will allow patients to keep from touching cash or paying hefty ATM fees. It also makes transactions feel more legitimate and eliminates constant cash drops or high security surrounding the business carrying so much cash. Hopefully, it will also get rid of the feeling that both buyers and sellers of cannabis are still doing something wrong.

Of Course There’s An App For That
The app that is saving the day when it comes to digital transactions is called Hypur. Use of Hypur is aesthetically similar to Venmo, as it simply allows users to send money from their bank account directly to the cannabis pharmacy to complete the transactions. The app is free for users, although any pharmacies will have to pay a fee, just like they would for a payment service through a bank or credit card provider.


“It just makes it so patients now don’t have to carry a bunch of cash with them, and that is a major public safety concern,” said Richard Oborn, who heads the Center for Medical Cannabis for the Utah Department of Health. “I can understand why they wouldn’t want to be running around with $100 or $200.”

While the app does charge a little for companies, Oberon expects that many will want to get on board about this. However, he does admit that some patients might be wary of connecting an app like this to their bank account, since they’d see that as another admission that they use their money to buy cannabis. However, he doesn’t think it will become a major setback.

“But I think the trade-off is worth it for many cannabis patients,” he said, adding that more than 10,500 Utahns have registered as medical cannabis card holders since the state rolled out its program about seven months ago.

And most agree that this is the first attempt at such a thing, and since trial-and-error is involved, it is a strong first step.

“It’s a nascent industry, and we’re in the early inning,” Ross Lipson, CEO and co-founder of Dutchie, said. “It’s all uncharted territory, and there’s a lot of rules and regulations … that we have to build into the system to help the dispensaries stay compliant.”

Regardless of the hiccups rolling something like this out, Hypur will make cannabis transactions a lot more easy for medical patients and could help pave the way for the future of electronic cannabis transactions.
 

Utah Lawmakers Pass Bill To Protect Medical Cannabis Patients

The bill legitimizes the right for medical cannabis patients to be prescribed marijuana for ailments like chronic pain.

Utah lawmakers have approved a bill to protect the rights of medical cannabis patients employed by government agencies. Under the bill, SB46, the state and local governments would be required to treat medical cannabis recommendations the same as prescriptions for other controlled substances.

The legislation provides protection from discrimination in health care and public employment for medical cannabis patients. Republican Rep. Joel Ferry, the House floor sponsor of the bill, said that the law is designed to protect patients legally using cannabis under Utah’s Medical Cannabis Act, which was passed by voters in 2018.

“What this bill does is it provides some clarity to what the legislative intent was… in recognizing medical cannabis as a legitimate use of cannabis for treating certain ailments such as chronic pain,” said Ferry, as quoted by the Deseret News.

The legislation was approved by the Utah House of Representatives on Wednesday by a vote of 68-4 after passing by a margin of 26-1 in the state Senate last month. The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Spencer Cox for final approval.

Medical Cannabis Patient Who’s a Firefighter Was Suspended​

Utah lawmakers drafted the legislation after an Ogden firefighter was suspended without pay in September of last year for refusing to surrender his medical marijuana card. The firefighter, Levi Coleman, subsequently filed a lawsuit against the city and the fire department, arguing that the action violated the Medical Cannabis Act.

The legislation received nearly unanimous approval in both houses of the Utah legislature. Republican Rep. Timothy Hawkes was one of the four to vote against the bill in the House. Hawkes said he feared the bill would give a “get out of jail free card” to people who use “street marijuana” recreationally.

Some lawmakers expressed reservations that the bill would allow public employees to work while high. The legislation has no effect on private employers.

But Ferry told his colleagues in the House on Wednesday that the legislation does not prevent public agencies from disciplining employees who are intoxicated or impaired while on the job.

“We already have extensive provisions for… people where medical cannabis interferes with their ability to do their job, that’s all in the law,” agreed Republican Rep. Norm Thurston. “All this says is, the simple, additional act of seeking a card is not going to subject you to being fired from your job.”

Rep. Kera Birkeland, also a Republican, said that she appreciated those concerned about public employees working under the influence of medical cannabis.

“But if we wanted to go down every controlled substance that we have and talk about abuse, every profession, and everybody would be at times possibly abusing,” Birkeland said, adding, “I mean, I’ll be honest, sometimes I take two muscle relaxers when I’m only supposed to take one, right?”

“We don’t come down on that,” she continued. “I think we need to let people work through this issue with their physicians and support and provide education and training on how to not abuse substances, instead of just saying, ‘You might abuse this and so we’re not going to let you have this drug and have this profession.’”

Other lawmakers noted that the bill was contrary to federal law, which still classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance. But Republican Rep. Ken Ivory said the bill is a matter of states’ rights under the U.S. Constitution and that Utah is protecting its citizens’ interests despite the position of the federal government.

“The founders and the framers looked to the states to look at policy, to look at things that make sense for their people,” Ivory said.

“States are separate and independent sovereigns, and sometimes they need to act like it,” Ivory added, quoting U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
 
"Pharmacies and patients are governed by the Department of Health and Human Services while processors and cultivators are governed by the Department of Agriculture and Food."​

Only government would think up something this stupid.

Utah Lawmakers Seek To Improve Medical Marijuana Program, With Stakeholders Pushing For Regulatory Consolidation

The current split regulatory structure of Utah’s medical cannabis industry has created recurring struggles with the supply chain that could be streamlined if all regulations were under one governing body, state lawmakers were told.

Under the current regulatory structure, the industry is overseen by two different state departments. Pharmacies and patients are governed by the Department of Health and Human Services while processors and cultivators are governed by the Department of Agriculture and Food.

Senate Bill 153, which passed during the latest legislative session, required the Legislative Management Committee to form a working group to study and make recommendations regarding bringing the regulatory authority under one state entity.

The medical cannabis structure in Utah is one that other states look to as an example of one that’s growing really well as far as medicinal markets go,” Alyssa Smailes, executive director for the Utah Cannabis Association, told the Medical Cannabis Governance Structure Working Group on Monday.

The desire to streamline the supply chain comes as demand from patients grows. Utah went from an estimated 4,027 medical cannabis patients in 2020 to over 50,000 by 2022, according to the legislative analysis.

“The industry in Utah is growing at a rapid pace,” Smailes said. “Patient numbers more than doubled from 2020 to 2021 and we are on pace to exceed that in 2022. From 2020 to 2021 there was a 300 percent increase in sales based on current industry sales in 2022 up to this point.”

The Utah Cannabis Association and Utah Cannabis Co-op recommended a single governing board with representatives from industry, physicians, patients and regulators, similar to other industries in Utah.

Meanwhile, patient advocacy group Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education called for a greater check and balance system to address quality assurance concerns.

“What we are finding as we talk with patients is that the current barrier that we’re seeing is from the top down,” said TRUCE Vice Chair Valerie Ahanonu. “When you look at industry licensing, audit renewals, lab testing, manufacturing, all of those are currently managed under one department so there’s no real check and balance system.”

TRUCE also recommended releasing more licenses to stimulate a free market, create competition and give patients more options. The change would improve quality and affordability, according to the organization.

“This committee’s charge is to look at the governance,” said Sen. Evan Vickers (R), who chairs the committee. “It’s not looking at getting rid of condition lists or anything like that.”

Vickers said it was possible another piece of legislation could consider other industry and patient concerns but said the only charge of this committee is to consider the governance of the medical cannabis industry.

The committee is scheduled to meet again on August 8.
 

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