The Medical Marijuana bill recently passed by the Utah Legislature has put local health departments on notice that they have to set up dispensaries by March of 2020. But beyond that deadline, a number of questions still linger. Rick Brough has more.
Summit County Health Director Rich Bullough said they haven’t settled on a specific location for a marijuana dispensary. But it likely would be on the west side of the county.
"We’re going to try to take in consideration things like transportation. We think it should be on a bus line. We think it should be in an area that is easily accessible. We’ve settled on an area in western Summit County. It probably doesn’t make any sense to put it in Henefer or some place. Our intent is to meet the law – the requirements of the law and our job is customer service. And so, we’re taking this with the same approach– we’re going to make this as customer service friendly as possible.”
“So, do you have a location in mind?
“No, not yet.”
“And how is that paid for – if you have to pay rent on a building or are, we talking about doing it at the jail?”
“Honestly, we have no idea. We’ve just begun conversations. I’ve met with the sheriff - had a discussion around things like security – those kinds of things.”
Proposition 2 was approved in Summit County by one of the largest margins in the state. But Bullough said that doesn’t necessarily mean this county will be the most popular destination for users.
"It is factual that we think we have a relatively higher use of M within Summit County. Although the data are really soft. Looking at this though , this product is going to be very tightly controlled. It is probably going to be relatively expensive compared to street marijuana. I’, not convinced – time will tell - whether or not people who are currently users are going to get prescriptions and fill a prescription. I don’t know – I don’t have an answer to that."
The local health districts will also be dispensing an item that is still prohibited under federal law. Bullough said he does find that concerning.
"The big question that I have is what it’s going to do with federal funding. The majority of our funds in the health department don’t come through the county council – they come from state and federal grants-so that is concerning to me. We have been told that the feds aren’t going to crack down on this-as we all known, that’s a moving target. I’m concerned and certainly will keep an eye on that. The governor has made assurances that they’ve had those conversations. We’ll see. I remain concerned about it."
There is also the issue of privacy, for users of medical marijuana who have to visit a location that will be well known to the public.
"You know we’ll do our best to make sure – there’s obviously going to be protocols in place. We have to follow all of the HIPPA protocols. I would anticipate we’ll do something similar with this. One of my concerns though is there are not any specific requirements for where people fill their prescriptions. And so, if I’m living in a community where I don’t want to be seen by my neighbors, I may go to the next community. So, an example of that might be Wasatch County residents who are coming to fill their prescription in Summit County. That is one of the unknowns in this. How's that affect our numbers. We’re going to be - Summit County is going to be staffing and paying the money and perhaps others from other communities will be coming her to fill – and of course, it could work both ways."
He said there is a pro and a con side to the new landscape for medical marijuana.
"The con is that it’s a new direction for us – it’s a challenge. There’s no way around that. This in going to be a challenging program – we’re going to have to figure out security. We’re going to have to figure out a lot of different things. The pro is that until we begin to, across the country, have opportunities for research, this continues to be a Schedule 1 drug – there’s very little research. Part of what is going to occur in Utah is studies – so I think that’s very positive."
Summit County Health Director Rich Bullough.
