SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes assured skeptical Democrats that an agreement reached between Mormon leaders, lawmakers and pot proponents wasn’t done to sabotage a medical marijuana ballot initiative.
“This is not to interrupt (Proposition 2). This is to acknowledge it,” Hughes, a Draper Republican, told lawmakers Wednesday during a public forum in the Senate Office Building.
“If Proposition 2 were to fail, we’d still want to move forward with a model to provide medical cannabis to patients who need it,” he said.
Unlike Proposition 2, which would legalize medical marijuana for individuals in Utah with qualifying medical conditions, the recently agreed upon legislation calls for a state-centralized cannabis pharmacy that would fill orders from patients for pickup at a local health department.
Five licenses for privately owned cannabis pharmacies would also be up for grabs. The bill tightens up the list of qualifying conditions for patients and the varieties of marijuana products that would be allowed, prohibiting most edibles.
Moreover, under the legislation, physicians and pharmacists would control medical marijuana dosages for patients.
Not all proponents of medical cannabis have been pleased with the deal done behind the scenes by legislative leaders, advocates and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Steve Urquhart, a former Republican state senator, called the agreement announced Oct. 4 an “electioneering ploy.”
The so-called compromise was “intended to suppress voter turnout. It was intended to confuse the voters,” he said.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has pledged to call a special legislative session in mid-November to take up the cannabis pact.
Hughes, speaking to Democratic lawmakers Wednesday, also contended that there is enough time to vet a medical marijuana proposal thoroughly between now and the special session. Formal and informal meetings on the drafted bill will continue to take place in the coming weeks, he said.
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