Now that Utah has a medical cannabis program (for its rollicking timeline, see
City Weekly s Get on the Canna-bus, published April 22), it should be easy for anyone to sign up and start smoking, right? Wrong. There are plenty more steps and hoops to jump through before you re able to even visit a pharmacy.
As many
City Weekly readers likely know, two of our neighboring states Colorado and Nevada have had recreational cannabis programs running for years (on top of their decades-old medical cannabis systems), almost certainly capturing millions of tax dollars from Utahns and residents of other restrictive nearby states.
Utah Investigative Journalism Project
Dr. Andrew Talbott, a Park City physician, is among those concerned that Utah’s medical cannabis law fosters clinics that charge patients upwards of $200 for a brief consultation to help them access the drug while providing limited cannabis education.
Tanzi Propst/Park Record
The following story was written and reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with The Park Record.
During the first year of Utah’s medical cannabis program, several clinics sprouted to help patients get the required card that allows them to purchase products from the state’s seven dispensaries.
But some worry that these businesses simply serve as “card mills” that overcharge patients but fail to deliver key services. They also blame state lawmakers for designing a program that drives up patient costs.