Save Utah’s medical cannabis program.
90% of Utahns support medical cannabis.
In 2018, Utah voted to legalize medical cannabis. Since then, Utahns have broadly embraced medical cannabis and today 90% of voters support it.
However, latest polling shows that 50% of Utahns also support implementing a recreational program in Utah similar to what is done in border states Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado. This would have dire consequences for Utah’s medical cannabis patients and the program itself.
It would remove the doctors and medical cannabis pharmacists in Utah that help patients.
Cannabis operators would be forced to focus on creating products with the highest level of THC at the expense of products that focus on treating medical conditions.
Heading into 2025, the medical cannabis program needs common sense reforms to save the medical program from going recreational.
Obtain Medical Cannabis Cards Through Telemedicine
The entire healthcare sector has embraced telemedicine to lower costs for patients, yet Utah doesn’t allow medical cannabis patients to obtain their cards through telemedicine. Other medical cannabis states like Florida, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania have been able to reach more patients at a lower cost without compromising care. It's time for Utah to do the same.
Let Doctors be Doctors
If a Doctor believes cannabis can help a patient and wants to recommend medical cannabis for something not on a government-approved list, they must either give a false diagnosis or deny the patient. No other medicine is treated like this, and it leads patients to purchase cannabis illegally. We should trust doctors to do what is best for their patient.
Ability to Advertise
Out of state dispensaries, pharmaceutical companies and even ketamine providers (the drug that killed actor Matthew Perry) can advertise to Utah patients freely. It's time to level the playing field when it comes to patient advertising, and let the public know about safe and natural remedies that could help reduce their opioid prescriptions.
Utah Needs Competitive Product Offerings
Utah's product offerings are more restrictive than other medical cannabis states, pushing many patients to go out of state to find the products they prefer and that work best for them. Utah should expand the available products to prevent patients from having to leave the state for their medicine.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO PATIENT ACCESS:
Access is the primary reason that Utah patients favor moving to a recreational program instead of a quality medical program.
For too long, Utah has focused on keeping the program tightly controlled at the expense of legitimate patients being able to access the program.
The program is too difficult to enter, so patients opt to drive to Nevada and Colorado to illegally purchase what they should be able to get in Utah easily and legally.
According to a recent Utah Department of Agriculture study, 60% of Utah patients are illegally buying cannabis because the program has become too hard to navigate.
If Utah doesn’t make easy, common-sense reforms, we risk losing the medical program altogether.