Governor Gary Herbert is calling the legislature into a special session on Monday to vote on the medical marijuana compromise bill. Voters passed Proposition 2 which was the citizen-led voter referendum legalizing medical cannabis in Utah. Lawmakers negotiated a compromise with the Prop 2 advocates before election day promising that regardless of the outcome, the state would make medical marijuana legal in Utah. Utah House Representative for Park City and Wasatch County, Tim Quinn will be on KPCW Thursday morning during the Local News Hour. However, the proposed changes to the bill are concerning to the Summit County Health Director. Carolyn Murray has this:
Utah’s Proposition 2 legalizing medical marijuana passed 53 to 47 percent on election day. The compromise bill was introduced before the election took place.
Rich Bullough is the Director and Health Officer of the Summit County Health Department. He said the 13 state-wide Health Officers are reluctantly supportive of the compromise legislation. The state’s County Health Departments were not part of the original Prop 2 bill.
“This is absolutely something new to us and the Health Officers, there are 13 Health Officers across the state, we have decided as an association, that we will support the bill with respect to distribution of the controlled cannabis and again there would be specific requirements attached to that.”
Bullough said the vaccination programs typically managed by County Health Departments would have some over-lap to manage distribution. He said the big unknown is that marijuana remains a schedule 1 drug and he is worried it could have an impact on health department funding.
“There are still several things to be worked out but one of them is that there needs to be a central information system. I think Utah is well prepared to implement that. There are still going to be questions around security and transportation of the medication. And, certainly there are questions around the issue of money exchange. And then from the perspective of local health departments, one of my primary concerns is the potential risk to our federal funds. And, we’ve been assured that there is no risk. I think it’s important that we recognize this remains a schedule 1 drug and we receive a significant amount of our funding through federal grants.”
The Association of Health Officers have looked to other states to find a model that they could follow. Bullough said the private and public sectors in Utah have close ties and the Health Departments throughout the state are prepared to handle the communication needs.
“We have, actually, very close relationships. Often times with pediatricians because of vaccines but also whenever there’s any sort of communicable disease or any sort of outbreak or concern. We are all part of the same data information system. If a hospital for example sees a positive influenza test, we are notified. So, yeah, we have a working relationship right now that is actually a model for the country, Utah better than most states.”
The most pressing concern Bullough has with the compromise bill is the message it sends to the community. He said the timing couldn’t be worse.
“As you know, we have been working really hard through our Mental Health Alliance and through Communities that Care to address the perception of drug use and the general acceptance of alcohol and drug use among our youth. And, I’m very concerned about the timing of this message. And so, we’re going to need to figure that out. So, I think whatever that message is to be affective, we’re going to need the engagement of the community and the families and all of our partners across Summit County."
The legislature meets Monday in a special session to vote on the compromise Medical Marijuana bill.
