Utah GOP Senator Defends Modified Cannabis Bill for Creating 'More Guardrails'
*By Chloe Aiello*
Medical marijuana is now legal in Utah, but not exactly in the form voters intended. Shortly after the medical marijuana initiative, Proposition 2, was scheduled to go into effect, the Utah state House and Senate swooped in and replaced it with a new law.
Wayne Niederhauser, a Republican senator for Utah's 9th district, defended the move on Wednesday, and told Cheddar the new law, "The Utah Medical Cannabis Act," ensures "medical marijuana and not de-facto recreational" is the law of the Beehive State.
"We wanted to create some more guardrails. We want to get medical marijuana to everyone that needs it, but we also have 600,000 plus children in this state, and we want to make sure those children are protected as much as possible from getting a controlled substance," Niederhauser said.
"The Utah Medical Cannabis Act" that Gov. Gary Herbert signed into law on Monday differs in some significant ways from Proposition 2. The bill reduces the permitted number of privately-run dispensaries for the state, Niederhauser said ー supplementing them instead with state-run distribution through health departments. Cannabis "flower" is still allowed, but only in one-gram increments, and edibles are mostly illegal, except for gummy cubes, according to the [Salt Lake Tribune](https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2018/12/03/utah-house-passes-medical/). It also tweaks the list of conditions that qualify for treatment.
Niederhauser said, "there's really not a lot of difference," between Prop 2 and the new bill, but cannabis advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project disagreed.
“This bill is undoubtedly inferior to the law enacted by voters in November. However, Proposition 2 would very likely have been defeated without the compromise deal, which prevented an onslaught of opposition spending. Advocates made the responsible decision to negotiate with opponents and ensure that patients were not left without any access to medical cannabis," MPP's Matthew Schweich [said in a statement](https://www.mpp.org/news/press/utah-legislature-passes-compromise-medical-marijuana-law/) after the new bill passed.
"The Utah Medical Cannabis Act" was a collaboration between lawmakers and medical marijuana proponents that "came to fruition" about 45 days before the midterms, Niederhauser said, adding that whether or not Prop 2 passed, the medical law would have been enacted. The new program is expected to be running by 2020.
As to whether the new law will lead to recreational legalization, Niederhauser said he hopes not.
"As far as I'm concerned, I hope we never even get close to recreational use," he said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/recreational-marijuana-shouldnt-be-legal-in-utah-according-to-state-senate-president).
Sweta Chakraborty, U.S. President of We Don't Have Time and climate change expert, joins Cheddar News to discuss how mining the proper resources for the clean energy sector is crucial.
Throughout 2021, several Americans found themselves finding a renewed emphasis on what work-life balance looked like. The labor market experienced several people either quitting their jobs or leaving the workforce altogether. Editor at Labor Notes Alexandra Bradbury, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Whitney Johnson, CEO of human capital consultancy Disruption Advisors and author of 'SMART GROWTH: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company', joins Cheddar News to discuss the rise in entrepreneurship and explores new opportunities to grow personally and professionally.
Two major high profile cases on opposite ends of the country, as they both now lie in the hands of the jury. In New York, jury deliberations continue in the sex trafficking trial of Jeffrey Epstein's longtime partner, Ghislaine Maxwell. Jurors in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial will be back to deliberate just a day after the judge told asked them to stay for an extra hour, as they signaled they're still far from a verdict in that sex trafficking case. The Elizabeth Holmes jury also apparently no closer to a verdict after five days of deliberations as well. Florina Altshiler criminal defense attorney & former prosecutor spoke to Cheddar about the latest on the cases.
2021 proved that crypto currency is here to stay. This year saw more and more adoptions of crypto, from top athletes looking to be paid in bitcoin, to Elon Musk even experimenting with bitcoin and dogecoin payments for a bit over at Tesla. And it wasn't all bitcoin either - other cryptos like Cardano and Solana saw some action in 2021 as well. Patrick McConlogue, CEO of Overline and former Citadel Investment Group Engineer explains why 2021 was such a good year for crypto, and what to expect in 2022.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index showed an 18.4 percent surge in October as the housing market continues to boom. October's levels are a slight downturn from the roughly 19 percent increase the index saw in September, but come roughly in line with economist expectations. Michael J. Romer, Managing Partner, Romer Debbas joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
U.S. airlines have canceled more than 6,000 flights since Christmas eve, causing headaches for travelers.
Airlines cited staffing shortages amid the omicron outbreak as the primary reason for the interruptions to service. The cancellations come at the busiest time of year for air travel. Steve Shur, President, The Travel Technology Association joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
Adult-use cannabis sales kicked off in Nevada in 2017, but four years later, there isn’t a legal way for the 40 million tourists who visit the state annually to consume. That’s all about to change. Following the passage in June of a bill to legalize consumption lounges, the world’s largest dispensary, Planet 13, is planning a cannabis club as extravagant as Las Vegas. Cheddar’s Chloe Aiello visited the cannabis entertainment complex to find out more.
