Utah’s status on medical cannabis bills, LDS church approves of CBD
The cannabis industry is being flooded with valuable CBD-based products that can help cannabis users in numerous ways. The popularity of CBD products throughout the country is due to its beneficial non-psychoactive components, allowing customers to either eat/drink the CBD, or to apply it as a topical. Like many states, Utah has been working on trying to make medical cannabis and CBD legal for patients living there, and when the time comes to legalize it on the medical front, even members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) will be able to partake.
Earlier this year in February, two cannabis bills were introduced to the Utah Senate. One, Senate Bill 73, would legalize medical cannabis for those with specific medical conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, HIV/AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), cancer, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain. The other competing bill, Senate Bill 89, would have allowed the limited use of cannabis only in the form of CBD oil. Unfortunately, neither bill went far enough to be approved and ended their journey in March, according to Fox13. However, Representative Brad Daw, co-sponsor of SB-89, stated it won’t be the last time that Utah will see the bill, “It is what it is. This is a big policy, and frankly something this big sometimes takes a couple of years to pass. So we’ll work on it over the summer, we’ll make sure we’ve got it right. We’ll try to bring more information and work on it more next year.”
While these two medical cannabis bills were circulating the senate, religions such as the LDS Church decided to announce their policy regarding members using CBD products, “While we are not in a position to evaluate specific medical claims, the Church understands that there are some individuals who may benefit from the medical use of compounds found in marijuana.” It continued to state that the church opposes SB-73, but offered no objection to SB-89.
Although Utah’s strongest cannabis bills didn’t quite make it to final approval, CBD products will still be on the rise, which is a huge relief to U.S. residents, and especially many LDS members who may have been hesitant to seek out CBD products because of church doctrine, which dictates that members should not partake in drugs. LDS members such as Drive Juicery company owner Matthew Kennedy—who discovered CBD to be a great help in during his work with the Special Olympics, as well as his own career as a stuntman in Hollywood—has realized the benefits of CBD with his raw cannabis juices. CBD Naturals’ CBD water, which found a way to create even more value in drinking the most necessary fluid on the planet. Not to mention soothing topicals such massage and body oil company Prada, which mixes CBD with a variety of essential oils.
