Last year we reported on legalization of medical cannabis in Utah.
This year everything changed, starting with the number of medical cannabis pharmacies. So, here are five things that every Utahn should be aware of.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST:
WATCH THE VIDEO:
1) State-run distribution has been eliminated. Medical centers risked losing their federal charter if they started distributing Federally-banned substances, so there were real problems with the way that legislation was written. So they eliminated it! Yea! This is great news because instead of seven medical cannabis pharmacies they will have 14.
2) Access and distribution
Where are the medical cannabis pharmacies and when will they open? Most of these pharmacies will be open by March. And here is a quick list, we will put a link at the bottom in the description for more information.
They will be in Logan, Ogden (both called True North), West Bountiful. In Salt Lake City we will have three: Beehive’s Own, Justice Grown, Dragonfly Wellness and Seseret Wellness. The closest two to downtown are Justice Grown Utah and Dragonfly Wellness on 711 S State Street. So in March you will be able to get medical cannabis.
So it’s still unclear which pharmacies are opening in March and which are opening in July. We will certainly keep you posted on this. But I have to say this is really great because patient access will be excellent in more areas, which leads me to number three.
Patients will be allowed home delivery of their medical cannabis. So special courier licenses will be allowed for delivering medical cannabis and several of the pharmacies have said they will be allowing for home delivery.
3) How do you best go about getting a recommendation card? We found this information kind of difficult to find so we put together a list for you that you can check out by visiting UtahStories.com
4) What types of afflictions will medical cannabis be useful for?
You must be afflicted with one of the following conditions:
- ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Autism
- Cachexia
- Cancer
- Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis
- HIV/AIDS
- Epilepsy or a similar condition that causes “debilitating seizures”
- Multiple sclerosis or persistent and debilitating muscle spasms
- Nausea (must be persistent)
- Pain lasting longer than two weeks that is not adequately managed despite treatment attempts
- PTSD “that is being treated or monitored by a licensed mental health therapist”
- Any terminal illness where life expectancy is less than six months
- Any condition resulting in hospice care
- Any rare condition that effects fewer than 200,000 persons in the United States as defined by Section 526 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and is not adequately managed despite treatment attempts
5) What delivery methods is the state of Utah allowing?
- Tablet
- Capsule
- Concentrated oil
- Liquid suspension
- Transdermal preparation
- Gelatinous cube
- Unprocessed cannabis flower in a blister pack containing no more than one gram of flower pods in each individual blister
- Wax or resin*
This is a good list of doctors who can help you in getting a medical marijuana recommendation card:
And we will be sure to keep you posted as the medical cannabis pharmacies open and when they open. We are going to have some podcasts coming up about the proper and improper usage of medical cannabis.
I can tell you I am personally excited about this. I strongly believe we rely far too much on big-pharma to solve way too many of our problems with way too many side-effects. Medical cannabis offers far fewer side effects and better treatment in many cases. And if you don’t believe me go check out the very first video podcast I did on this about a year ago.
RELEVANT STORIES
Medical Marijuana in Utah
Medical Cannabis Doctors in Utah
Medical Cannabis Comes To Utah: State Director of Medical Cannabis Andrew Rigby Explains His Challenges
Utah State-controlled Medical Cannabis is up in smoke
Utah farmer seeking medical cannabis grow permit
Utah medical cannabis: the green lottery heats up
How Medical Cannabis in Utah Relates to the Opioid Epidemic
Medical Cannabis in Utah: The Central Fill
Utah’s Suburban Drug Use
