Ms. Stenquist made several important points about SB130 (regulating CBD products). First, only “qualified” pharmacies can offer products (and only via a doctor’s recommendation) – and second, the sponsor of the bill, Senator Vickers happens to own several pharmacies.
We’re not lawyers, but we invite any interested parties to read “Title 67. State Officers and Employees – Chapter 16 – Utah Public Officers’ and Employees’ Ethics Act.” http://ift.tt/2p8Hfgs
Any opinions on whether this is a clear conflict of interest…?
Further, given how restrictive SB130 makes the availability of approved CBD products, while it does allow seizure and citations of the unapproved, we’ll make an educated guess that the odds of it successfully removing all of the black and grey market CBD products already being sold in stores, via multi-level-marketing between individuals and via other means (internet sales, e.g.) are slim to none.
And removing the incentive to sell un-regulated, un-inspected, un-assayed products was the main reason any bill was needed in the first place!
Also, pharmacies will have no competitors, so we’d expect high prices for approved products – and – if some of the few existing pharmacies in less developed areas choose not to sell, there could be large swaths of the state with no approved CBD products.
Finally, the bill depends on the federal gov’t granting UT a DEA exception to allow products, which is very much up in the air. So lacking approval, the bill may mostly amount to setting up some number of seizures of grey and black market products, and not any real path forward.
Why legislators keep offering (and passing) legislation not developed in consultation with experts, advocates and stakeholders remains frustrating, but the inevitable results of bills lacking such input – poorly written, unhelpful pieces of legislation – are no mystery.
So it’s no wonder that the public is ready to take the matter into their own hands.
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Note: We wish to clarify two matters…
1. Ms. Stenquist is called a lobbyist – but TRUCE is an non-profit advocacy and educational organization, not a registered lobbying group.
2. When HB195, the so-called “Right to try” bill which MIGHT end up covering a small number of terminally ill patients is discussed, stock video of cannabis being smoked and images of whole flower cannabis are prominently shown. In fact, the bill prohibits both smoking and whole flower, limiting medicines to packaged preparations of cannabinoids.
#MMJ #UTpol #UTleg #UtahNext #Truce
See full article – KUTV 2News
