SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah’s House Speaker is telling skeptical Democrats that an agreement reached between Mormon leaders, lawmakers and cannabis proponents wasn’t done to sabotage the November 2018 medical marijuana ballot initiative.
The Republican leader, Greg Hughes, said the bill is “not to interrupt (Proposition 2),” but instead “to acknowledge it.”
Unlike Proposition 2, which would legalize medical marijuana for individuals in Utah with qualifying medical conditions, the agreed-upon legislation calls for a state-centralized cannabis pharmacy that would fill orders from patients for pickup at a local health department.
Five licenses for privately owned “cannabis pharmacies” would also be up for grabs. The bill tightens up the list of qualifying conditions for patients and the varieties of marijuana products that would be allowed, prohibiting most edibles.
Moreover, under the legislation, physicians and pharmacists would control medical marijuana dosages for patients.
