Utah cannabis consumers to lose out-of-state purchasing rights

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The state is still grappling with its cannabis sales rules

Medical marijuana users in the state of Utah are about to lose their ability to purchase marijuana in other states. This ability will expire soon and no plan has come forth as an alternative, leaving some citizens of the state in a serious bind when it comes time to restock their cannabis supply.

Advocates were hoping that recreational cannabis would be approved in the state of Utah by now, but that has not happened as yet. However, the state did approve medical marijuana dispensaries last year. The problem quickly arose that there were simply not enough of these outlets to serve all of the users living in rural areas of the state. So, regulators made a rule that these medical marijuana living in rural Utah could legally cross state lines to purchase in other states. Now that rule has been canceled and these people have been sent back to square one.

Cannabis activist Desiree Hennessy told the Utah Tribune, “These patients are without medication. They’re watching the rest of the state move forward and they’re stuck in limbo patiently waiting-or impatiently waiting.”

The state of Utah had initially approved 14 licensed dispensaries to be opened around the state. However, to date only seven of them have actually opened their doors for business. So far, the furthest south dispensary in Utah is in the city of Provo, which is still hours away for medical marijuana users to find when simply crossing the border into Colorado or Nevada, where adult-use marijuana has been approved and is readily available.

In a recent study, researchers found that some 60% of medical marijuana users in the state of Utah still go out of state to make their purchases.