Twenty-nine U.S. states have legalized medical marijuana. Some have even taken it a step further and legalized recreation weed, nine and the District of Columbia to be exact. And now, Utah is fighting for the change to take the title as the 30th state to legalize medicinal marijuana and grow it too. On Tuesday, a bill was passed by the state’s house of Representatives and now will move to the Senate for its stamp of approval.
Last week, House Bill 195 was passed in the House of Representative and is now being reviewed by the Senate. The bill calls for the legalization of medical marijuana. If the Senate approves the bill and Utah’s Governor Gary Herbert signs, it will become the 30th state to now legalize marijuana.
When asked about medical marijuana legalization, Governor Herbert said “Let’s get the science done, the research done, have it as a controlled substance prescribed by a doctor and certified by a pharmacist as a controlled medical substance, I think it’s gonna happen”.
However, there was another bill presented with it, House Bill 197, which did not move onto the next round. The bill called for permission for the state of Utah to cultivate medical marijuana for its medical marijuana program. Without this and if the program passes the Senate, potential patients would not have any access to the medicine.
The bill’s sponsor, Representative Brad Daw decided to take another shot with House Bill 197. Good thing he did, because the bill passed the House this time around and is making its way to the Senate hopefully for approval. In the end, without marijuana there is no medical marijuana program. Thanks to Representative Daw, terminally ill residents of Utah may be able to finally have access to a treatment that is accepted by more than half of the country.
