Utah Voters Could Legalize Medical Marijuana

What the Initiative Does

Proposition 2 would legalize marijuana for individuals with qualifying conditions, who could obtain a medical marijuana card with a physician’s recommendation. A medical marijuana cardholder couldn’t smoke marijuana, or use a device to facilitate its smoking; they’d be allowed to buy either two ounces of unprocessed marijuana or an amount of marijuana product with no more than 10 grams of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or cannabidiol (CBD). Beginning in 2021, individuals with medical cards would be allowed to grow up to six marijuana plants for personal use in their homes if there aren’t dispensaries within 100 miles.

Argument in Favor

Medical marijuana has documented positive effects on a range of chronic conditions. CBD — the least controversial use, because it has few, if any, intoxicating properties — has been reported to relieve insomnia, anxiety, spasticity, and even life-threatening conditions such as epilepsy.

Argument Against

There are legal, safe medications for nearly all the conditions that marijuana supposedly addresses, making it unnecessary. Additionally, there’s no scientific evidence about the safety of long-term medical marijuana use, so making it available to the public could have unforeseen consequences.

In-Depth

Negotiations between Utah legislators, supporters of this proposition, and opponents of this proposition resulted in an agreement on a potential compromise that the legislature would take up after the November election if this measure were approved. In the compromise legislation, the provision allowing patients to grow their own plants if they live 100 or more miles from a dispensary would be removed.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert (R), Drug Safe Utah, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints oppose this ballot measure.

The Utah Patients Coalition and Libertas Institute support this ballot measure.

This initiative is appearing on the ballot after 153,894 signatures were collected from supporters, satisfying the requirement to get 113,143 statewide signatures in addition to signature thresholds in 26 of 29 state senate districts.

Summary by Lorelei Yang

(Photo Credit: iStockphoto.com / Sezeryadigar)