A measure introduced yesterday in the Utah House would make a series of changes to the state’s medical marijuana program, including creating a new fee on medical marijuana purchases, expanding the kinds of products that can be treated as “medical marijuana,” and allowing recommending providers to issue recommendations through virtual visits.

Utah House Bill 389, filed by State Representative Jennifer Dailey-Provost (D), would allow a recommending medical provider to recommend medical marijuana to a patient through a virtual visit, striking current limits that only allow telehealth recommendations for a narrower set of patients.

The bill would also create a “uniform fee” on each medical marijuana transaction, with the amount set by the responsible department. The revenue would be deposited into the Qualified Production Enterprise Fund and could be used to carry out responsibilities tied to Utah’s medical marijuana laws, along with certain related product regulatory laws.

HB 389 would further expand what qualifies as “medical marijuana” by adding a new category called a “low THC product,” defined as a product intended for human use that contains less than 0.3% total THC (or THC analogs) on a dry-weight basis and is processed by a licensed cannabis processing facility. The bill then adds low THC products in a medicinal dosage form to the definition of “medical marijuana,” which would effectively allow licensed medical marijuana pharmacies to sell them under the existing framework.

In addition, the proposal would let a business already licensed as a cannabis processing facility produce cannabinoid (hemp) products without obtaining a separate cannabinoid processor license. It would also rename and restructure the existing licensing advisory board into a Specialized Product Authority Licensing Board, giving it authority to approve certain licenses and to hear appeals not only under the medical marijuana program, but also under Utah’s hemp and kratom laws.

The full text of the new bill can be found by clicking here.