Utah Governor Signs Medical Cannabis Bill

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]T[/dropcap]he governor of Utah recently approved a bill that will allow terminally ill patients the “right to try” medical cannabis.

According to Fox 13 Gov. Gary Herbert signed House Bill 195, also referred to as the “right to try” law, which was sponsored by Rep. Brad Daw. A pending companion bill, HB-197, is awaiting signature, and would give the Utah Department of Agriculture & Food permission to cultivate medical cannabis for patients in need.

Some medical cannabis supporters oppose the bill, however, as they believe that only offering relief to terminally ill patients does not to do enough to provide medical cannabis for everyone else looking for ways to medicate. They would rather wait for an initiative that will be voted on in November, which if passed, would allow for more qualifying conditions. Advocates from Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education have gone on record opposing the bill.

Desert News reports that another pending bill, SB-130, would allow CBD for patients in need to be sold at pharmacies. HB-302 is also awaiting signature, a bill that would allow for industrial hemp cultivation.

Despite the fact that many in Utah feel the new medical law is not doing enough, there are a quite a few things in the works for legalization. State officials have also previously introduced a bill that would allow testing cannabis as an opiate replacement and have been working on the concept of expanding hemp acceptance so that more research can be done. While they may be off to something of a slow start, Utah is becoming open to at least allowing cannabis for medical consumption and embracing non-psychoactive cannabis.