Good news for patients in The Beehive State: Utah just passed a bill to grow medical marijuana. This bill was passed by the state’s House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. It will now make its way to the state Senate for review. The passing is bringing a lot of relief and hope to Utah’s citizens, particularly to the state’s potential medical marijuana patients.
Medical Marijuana In Utah
Last month, in a school assembly, the governor of Utah, Gary Herbert fielded a question from a student about the potential future for a medical marijuana in the state. Governor Herbert, to everyone’s surprise, answered in the affirmative.
“Let’s get the science done, the research done, have it as a controlled substance prescribed by a doctor and certified by a pharmacist as a controlled medical substance,” he said. “I think it’s gonna happen.”
Indeed, state polls have shown that the majority of Utah residents are in favor of a state medical marijuana program. And just last week, House Bill 195 passed in the House of Representative and was moved on to the Senate. House Bill 195, if passed in the Senate and signed by the governor, would legalize medical marijuana.
But only for terminally ill patients. It wouldn’t be the most inclusive program, but it’s a start at least.
The accompanying bill, however, did not pass. That bill, House Bill 197, would let the state of Utah grow medical marijuana for the patients in the program.
So as it stood, a medical marijuana program could have been established. But you would have to be dying to qualify and you wouldn’t actually have access to cannabis.
But hope is not lost. A seed of optimism has been planted.
House Bill 197 was just brought back to life by the determined sponsor, Representative Brad Daw. This time around, the House of Representatives passed the bill. It will now move on to the Senate.
Final Hit: Utah Just Passed A Bill To Grow Medical Marijuana
If Representative Daw had not brought back House Bill 197, any potential medical marijuana program in the state of Utah would likely have been pointless. After all, how can one have a medical marijuana program without medical marijuana?
Now that the House of Representatives in Utah just passed a bill to grow medical marijuana, the state’s terminally ill patients have a renewed optimism that they might be granted the right to access a natural medicine that would ease their suffering.
