SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC 4 News)–The Senate Health and Human Services Committee approved changes to the state’s medical cannabis law on Tuesday.
Those changes are now up for a full Senate debate.
The bill would decriminalize past criminal records for some folks.
“For example, criminals who are patients are going to have an opportunity to expunge their records before we passed Prop 2,” Connor Boyack Libertas Institute President said.
Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers is sponsoring the bill.
During the committee hearing, some state departments expressed concerns over the language surrounding legalizing flavored THC vaping products.
Which Senator Vickers said would be addressed on the Senate Floor.
He and other lawmakers are working hard to pass amendments before the state’s medical cannabis program goes into effect on March 1, 2020.
“Another huge thing we are doing is making sure that the actual flower and the medicine that people are using will not be in these awkward blister pack but we are moving more towards the industry standards,” Boyack said.
Supporters say despite this bill not being perfect, it’s a step in the right direction.
Lawmakers still face some challenges.
“This is all federally illegal so the majority of states now that have legalized medical cannabis are doing this in defiance of the feds and that creates some complications for things like banking- banks are federally regulated,” Boyack said.
There is no timeline as to when the senate will debate this bill, but lawmakers expect it to be by the end of this week.
