TAYLORSVILLE, Utah, April 6, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Despite having access to Utah’s medical cannabis program, patients purchased 59% of cannabis products from illicit sources in 2023, state officials said.
The preference for purchasing products from unauthorized dealers was reflected in the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food‘s 2023 medical cannabis market analysis released Friday.
“A market analysis is completed every year to evaluate whether or not the Utah medical cannabis program is fulfilling its duty to ensure that medical cannabis patients have adequate access to the medicine they need,” said Dr. Brandon Forsyth, UDAF’s director of industrial hemp and medical cannabis.
“I am proud to see that, overall, patients are able to legally access their medication within the state at a reasonable cost compared to other medical cannabis markets. However, we can clearly see that additional efforts are needed to bring more Utahns into the medical cannabis program from illicit sources,” Forsyth said.
Third-party firm Cannabis Public Policy Consulting conducted the analysis and surveyed 197 people who currently or previously participated in Utah’s medical cannabis program, according to a news release from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
The department shared highlights from the market analysis but did not make the full report available. Such highlights, as determined by UDAF, included:
- 74.5% of patients did not feel the need to travel outside of the state to get the medical cannabis products they need.
- 59% of cannabis products were acquired from illicit sources rather than regulated pharmacies.
- 58% of patients reported there was plenty of supply of medical cannabis products.
- 41% of patients reported having a limited or very limited supply of medical cannabis.
- 25% of patients are traveling outside of Utah to get cannabis products due to cost.
State officials say the program will work to address the concerns raised in the market analysis to make sure patients no longer feel the need to get their medical cannabis from illicit and unsafe sources.
Utah voters approved Proposition 2 in November 2018 to legalize use of cannabis for those with qualifying medical conditions. The first of Utah’s 15 licensed medical cannabis dispensaries — though state officials prefer to call them pharmacies — opened in March 2020.
Gephardt Daily has requested a copy of the full market analysis and will update this story if more information becomes available.
