1     
MEDICAL CANNABIS GOVERNANCE STUDY

2     
2022 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Gene Davis

5     
House Sponsor: Joel Ferry

6     

7     LONG TITLE
8     General Description:
9          This bill requires the Legislative Management Committee to create a working group to
10     study and to make recommendations regarding a single state entity to oversee all
11     medical cannabis regulation.
12     Highlighted Provisions:
13          This bill:
14          ▸     requires the Legislative Management Committee to create a working group
15     composed of members of two interim committees to study and make
16     recommendations regarding a single state entity to oversee all medical cannabis
17     regulation;
18          ▸     requires the Department of Agriculture and Food and the Department of Health to
19     report to the working group as requested;
20          ▸     provides a repeal date; and
21          ▸     makes technical changes.
22     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
23          None
24     Other Special Clauses:
25          This bill provides a special effective date.
26          This bill provides a coordination clause.
27     Utah Code Sections Affected:
28     AMENDS:

29          4-41a-802, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2020, Chapter 148
30          26-61a-703, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, First Special Session, Chapter 5
31          63I-2-236, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2021, Second Special Session, Chapter 8
32     ENACTS:
33          36-12-8.2, Utah Code Annotated 1953
34     Utah Code Sections Affected by Coordination Clause:
35          4-41a-802, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2020, Chapter 148
36          26-61a-703, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, First Special Session, Chapter 5
37          36-12-8.2, Utah Code Annotated 1953
38          63I-2-236, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2021, Second Special Session, Chapter 8
39     

40     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
41          Section 1. Section 4-41a-802 is amended to read:
42          4-41a-802. Report.
43          (1) At or before the November interim meeting each year, the department shall report to
44     the Health and Human Services Interim Committee on:
45          (a) the number of applications and renewal applications that the department receives
46     under this chapter;
47          (b) the number of each type of cannabis production facility that the department licenses
48     in each county;
49          (c) the amount of cannabis that licensees grow;
50          (d) the amount of cannabis that licensees manufacture into cannabis products;
51          (e) the number of licenses the department revokes under this chapter;
52          (f) the department's operation of an independent cannabis testing laboratory under
53     Section 4-41a-201, including:
54          (i) the cannabis and cannabis products the department tested; and
55          (ii) the results of the tests the department performed; and

56          (g) the expenses incurred and revenues generated under this chapter.
57          (2) The department may not include personally identifying information in the report
58     described in this section.
59          (3) During the 2022 legislative interim, the department shall report to the working
60     group described in Section 36-12-8.2 as requested by the working group.
61          Section 2. Section 26-61a-703 is amended to read:
62          26-61a-703. Report.
63          (1) By the November interim meeting each year beginning in 2020, the department
64     shall report to the Health and Human Services Interim Committee on:
65          (a) the number of applications and renewal applications filed for medical cannabis
66     cards;
67          (b) the number of qualifying patients and designated caregivers;
68          (c) the nature of the debilitating medical conditions of the qualifying patients;
69          (d) the age and county of residence of cardholders;
70          (e) the number of medical cannabis cards revoked;
71          (f) the number of practitioners providing recommendations for qualifying patients;
72          (g) the number of license applications and renewal license applications received;
73          (h) the number of licenses the department has issued in each county;
74          (i) the number of licenses the department has revoked;
75          (j) the quantity of medical cannabis shipments that the state central patient portal
76     facilitates;
77          (k) the number of overall purchases of medical cannabis and medical cannabis products
78     from each medical cannabis pharmacy;
79          (l) the expenses incurred and revenues generated from the medical cannabis program;
80     and
81          (m) an analysis of product availability in medical cannabis pharmacies.
82          (2) The department may not include personally identifying information in the report

83     described in this section.
84          (3) During the 2022 legislative interim, the department shall report to the working
85     group described in Section 36-12-8.2 as requested by the working group.
86          Section 3. Section 36-12-8.2 is enacted to read:
87          36-12-8.2. Medical cannabis governance structure working group.
88          During the 2022 legislative interim, the Legislative Management Committee shall
89     establish a working group composed of three members of the Health and Human Services
90     Interim Committee and three members of the Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment
91     Interim Committee to:
92          (1) work with industry, patients, medical providers, and others to conduct a review of
93     the state's governance structure over medical cannabis;
94          (2) study various regulatory structures throughout the nation regarding state agency
95     regulation of medical cannabis; and
96          (3) at or before the October 2022 interim meeting, make recommendations to the
97     Health and Human Services Interim Committee and the Natural Resources, Agriculture, and
98     Environment Interim Committee on whether a committee should recommend committee
99     legislation to vertically integrate licenses, streamline regulations, and reduce costs for patients
100     by unifying the efforts of the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture and
101     Food under a single state authority over medical cannabis.
102          Section 4. Section 63I-2-236 is amended to read:
103          63I-2-236. Repeal dates -- Title 36.
104          (1) Section 36-12-8.2 is repealed July 1, 2023.
105          [(1)] (2) Section 36-29-107.5 is repealed on November 30, 2023.
106          [(2)] (3) The following sections regarding the State Flag Task Force are repealed on
107     January 1, 2024:
108          (a) Section 36-29-201;
109          (b) Section 36-29-202; and

110          (c) Section 36-29-203.
111          Section 5. Effective date.
112          If approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, this bill takes effect
113     upon approval by the governor, or the day following the constitutional time limit of Utah
114     Constitution, Article VII, Section 8, without the governor's signature, or in the case of a veto,
115     the date of veto override.
116          Section 6. Coordinating S.B. 153 with H.B. 397 -- Technical amendments.
117          If this S.B. 153 and H.B. 397, Title 36 Recodification and Revisions, both pass and
118     become law, it is the intent of the Legislature that the Office of Legislative Research and
119     General Counsel, in preparing the Utah Code database for publication:
120          (1) renumber Section 36-12-8.2 enacted in this bill to Section 36-7a-701; and
121          (2) change the references in Sections 4-41a-802, 26-61a-703, and 63I-2-236 in this bill
122     from Section 36-12-8.2 to Section 36-7a-701.