A House-approved bill containing minor expansions to the Utah medical cannabis program advanced last week from a key Senate committee, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
As originally written, HB203 would have added 25 licenses to the state medical cannabis program and established a cannabis ombudsman position to help oversee the industry. The proposal that advanced from the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, however, looks quite different from the House-approved version — the bill now only expands the number of medical cannabis licensees by two, and the Senate committee also removed the ombudsman role from the proposal.
The bill was already approved last month by the House in a bipartisan 57-15 vote but then stagnated in the Senate committee, where pressure from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and other conservative groups worked against the reforms. But the committee eventually voted 6-0 to advance the proposal to the full Senate. If approved, the House will need to reconsider the proposal given the changes made in the Senate.
HB203’s sponsor Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost (D) described in the report a sense of “betrayal and frustration” at seeing the proposal languish in committee for so long after making “literally every concession that was asked,” but said she was relieved to see the bill advance.
“I’m super glad that senators were really thoughtful about letting us reconsider the bill and take it into account that there’s obviously a lot of hard work about cannabis in general. We have to stay focused on the fact that we have an opportunity and an obligation. … If we don’t do it, then some of the legitimate problems that are out there will perpetuate.” — Dailey-Provost, via The Salt Lake Tribune
Utah legalized medical cannabis in November 2018. Meanwhile, a poll conducted last year found that about half of Utah voters support legalizing cannabis for adults.
Get daily cannabis business news updates. Subscribe
End