How To Get A Medical Marijuana Card In Utah

What is Prop 2? Proposition 2 was organized by the Utah Patient Coalition. Passed by ballot initiative in November 2016. This was the bill that legalized Medical Marijuana for qualified patients in Utah. There was a powerful opposition against Prop. 2 and in order to save the bill, supporters worked toward a compromise that was passed shortly after. Many believe that Prop 2 passed only because the opposition never launched their massive campaign against it.

The compromise bill is the Medical Cannabis Act we know today. It describes the way all marijuana is to be grown, processed, and sold in Utah. It also describes the qualifications for people who want to use it, the way they go about getting a Medical Card recommendation from a doctor/PA/APRN, the registration process for the card, and buying marijuana at stores (called dispensaries or cannabis pharmacies). The law also describes the process doctors/PAs/APRNs must go through if they want to recommend marijuana to patients.

When you think about it, setting up a multimillion-dollar industry to offer medical-grade products from plants in less than three years is quite a feat. My hat is off to the UDOH for their hard work so far.

What Are Some of the Benefits of Medical Marijuana?

Take the qualifying condition nausea, for example. I spoke to a cancer patient today who doesn’t like to take nausea medication because it makes him constipated. He takes his chemo pills at night and by midnight, most nights, he is puking in the bathroom. He works during the day so he avoids daytime chemo due to nausea. Needless to say, this guy needs help. He’s not sleeping, he’s losing weight, and he is still trying to work.

If this doesn’t sound familiar to you, think of a time you’ve avoided medication because of the side effects. Even standard prescription strength nausea medication has SOME negative side effects and can cause harm. Zofran, for example, causes a heart rhythm problem in some patients and constipation in a lot of patients. Many people avoid Benadryl for allergies because it makes them sleepy. Good medical providers are constantly calculating whether the side effects will cause more harm than good before deciding what to recommend. Cannabis can be a good alternative to some prescriptions that cause harmful short and long-term side effects.

How Can Cannabis Help?

For example, full-spectrum cannabis that includes THC can be a very effective and safe treatment for persistent nausea. This is not the same as the CBD you can buy locally. For a THC-rich product, you will need to get a Medical Card and go to the dispensary to buy. It’s the real deal and if you take too much, you will feel high, no doubt.

“Start low and go slow” is the mantra for newbies. Cannabis is highly individual - some patients will take 2.5mg of THC and others 50mg. Many doctors think this range makes cannabis “not dosable,” but I disagree. There are plenty of medications we use in the medical setting that are adjusted based on patient response and have large ranges.

Tolerance tends to build quickly at low doses. Patients report reduced negative side effects while maintaining symptom relief during the initial 2 weeks.