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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would open up medical cannabis in Utah on a limited basis will head to the House floor on the final day of the legislative session without the support of a key backer — the Utah Medical Association.
The advocacy group, which counts most of the physicians in the state as members, withdrew its support of SB89 after lawmakers changed it to allow medication with more THC.
"Moving forward this quickly is too much," said CEO Michelle McOmber, who said the association believes more research needs to be done on THC.
THC is one of 80 or so active compounds in marijuana and has been at the center of the medical cannabis debate in Utah.
The chemical — which is believed to have medical benefits for a range of illnesses — is also the compound that creates the marijuana "high."
The Utah Medical Association had consistently supported SB89 and opposed a competing medical cannabis bill, SB73, which was broader and would have made the entirety of the 80 or so compounds in marijuana — including THC — available to qualifying patients.
Lawmakers chose not to send that bill to the floor at a committee hearing Monday, to the dismay of a many patients who were supporting it.
Utah Medical Association President William Hamilton said at the hearing that he is concerned about exposing youth to marijuana.
"If medical marijuana seeps in and becomes a recreational drug, that is a problem," William said.
The committee did choose to pass SB89, which is more limited, even after making significant changes that broadened it.
That bill, sponsored by Sen. Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, has been changed so dramatically that its own sponsor said Monday that it "pushed me a little farther than I want to go."
Rep. Brad Daw, R-Orem, the floor sponsor of the bill, said he's "not as discouraged by it as maybe I should be" and added that the association is not opposing the bill, "they're just not supporting it any more."
He said many patients have told him they will support the bill, although the largest and most vocal patient advocacy group, Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education, remains opposed.
House Majority Leader Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, said the medical marijuana bill will be brought to the House GOP caucus again Thursday. Daw and Vickers pitched the latest version of the bill to the caucus Wednesday, but Dunnigan said he wants members to take a position on the bill Thursday.
"If it has enough support, it will go. If it doesn't, it won't," the majority leader said. "They are going to discuss a couple of options tomorrow. It wasn't ready. I'm getting communications from a few constituents that say they want it to go further and don't vote for it."
He said with the session set to end by midnight Thursday, "we have a limited number of hours on the floor to debate bills left and we don't want to spend an hour on it if there's not support for it."
Dunnigan said the opposition by the Utah Medical Association could have some impact on representatives.
"We're going to talk about it tomorrow," he said.
Also on the agenda for the House GOP caucus, which Dunnigan said he plans to keep open, is the anti-death penalty bill, SB189. House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, opposes the death penalty and has said he is excited about the possibility of the bill passing.
Daw said he's still assessing how fellow lawmakers feel about SB89 and won't bring it to the floor if there's not enough support.
"This is a big enough policy, a big enough change, that the last thing I want to do is bulldog it through," Daw said. "I want them to be comfortable voting for it.
"If the position is thumbs up, all right," he added. "If it's thumbs down, we'll take the bill, refine it, look it over, see what's going on and if there's a will for it next year."
But Daw added that "at least a half-dozen or so" of his fellow lawmakers are serious about wanting the bill to pass.
"We'll have to see if that translates to enough," Daw said.
Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche
