With the advent of 2021, though, she and other Utah cannabis patients lost the legal ability to cross state lines and buy their medicine in Colorado or Nevada, as many of them have been doing for months. State lawmakers put this sunset date on out-of-state purchases in anticipation that, by this point, Utah’s medical cannabis program would be robust enough to serve its own patient population. But nearly a year since legal cannabis sales began in Utah, only half the state’s 14 approved marijuana pharmacies have opened, and the retailers that are up and running have often struggled to keep their shelves full. Cannabis advocate Desiree Hennessy said she’s trying to figure out how to bridge the gap for patients in rural Utah who can’t easily travel to one of the Wasatch Front pharmacies and are now legally prohibited from accessing cannabis treatment anywhere else. Still, because some physicians remain hesitant about recommending the federally illegal substance, it can be challenging for patients to get the necessary medical authorization for a cannabis card.
Mmp News Author, Medical Marijuana Program Connection, 01/22/2021 23:06:00