While the bill that replaced Utah’s Proposition 2 — the citizen effort to legalize medical marijuana — did not let rural Utahns grow their own cannabis plants at home as initiative sponsors had wanted, the replacement law has a potentially more convenient option: home delivery.
Rich Oborn, the director of the Center for Medical Cannabis Abuse with the state Department of Health, said the home delivery aspect is a "critical part of the law".
“That component was added primarily with rural areas in mind. Utah is a very rural state. Geographically, there're a lot of areas of state where there's not a lot of population," Oborn said. "And so the home delivery component of the program, that will roll out in July, will be able to accommodate those cases where individuals live in rural parts of the state. You know, we're thinking about central and southern Utah, but also northern Utah.”
Fourteen medical cannabis pharmacies will be opening across the state later this year. True North of Utah was the top-scoring applicant for licensure in Utah and will operate two facilities: one in Logan, the other in Ogden. Spokesperson Sasha Clark said the business' experience offering home delivery in Arizona will help them implement a similar program in Utah.
“We're looking forward to having a local company, but with out of state experience just because this industry is so new, no one's been allowed to really have legal experience in the cannabis industry in Utah, up until now,” she said.
The online system to apply for a medical cannabis card will roll out on March 1, the same day that up to eight of the medical cannabis pharmacies will be allowed to open — including the Ogden location for True North of Utah. The remaining six pharmacies and the home delivery option won’t be available until July 1.
More information on medical cannabis providers and pharmacies can be found at the Utah Department of Health website.
