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).
For the second weekend in a row. 'Dune' topped the box office closing out a lucrative October for movie sales. October was the highest-grossing box office month in the COVID-19 era. Mike Reyes, senior movie contributor at Cinemablend joins Cheddar News to talk about future box office predictions.
One Florida man has quickly gained the attention of 3 million followers for his funny way of interrupting viral videos with simple "fun facts". TikTok content creator Justin "Danger" Nunley, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Eli and Peyton Manning's "Monday Night Football" telecast on ESPN2 has quickly gained attraction and has now become one of the most talked-about popular sportscasts this season. The show has now become a huge success. Sports Agent Anthony Tall joined Cheddar to discuss more.
In a recent ProPublica report, a number of former students and staff have called out Liberty University for bullying them after reporting sexual assaults. According to them, the evangelical university silenced them and often forced them to sign a document acknowledging the school's moral code called, "The Liberty Way". Essentially the code bares drinking alcohol and “being in any state of undress with a member of the opposite sex.” Abrams Reporting Fellow at ProPublica Hannah Dreyfus, joined Cheddar to break it all down.
Leaders around the world have come together to discuss plans to bring action towards the Paris Agreement along with solutions on how to solve the evolving climate change crisis at the COP26 Summit. President and CEO of Center for International Environmental Law Carroll Muffett, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Carlo and Baker cover the big races to watch on this off-cycle Election Day, the concrete pledges starting to come out of COP26, Jeffrey Epstein keeps causing CEOs to lose their jobs, and Ryan Murphy's TV hit that wasn't.
The UN climate change conference kicked off on Sunday with about 120 world leaders and delegates gathering in Glasgow, Scotland this week, as experts continue to warn about the harms of heightened emissions and the effects on climate change. The topic of ESG investing is expected to be a top priority at the summit. Jefferies global head of ESG and sustainability research Aniket Shah joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Gifted and talented education programs in schools throughout the United States are falling under greater scrutiny as the race and class divide in the programs remain wide. Marcia Gentry, a professor of educational studies and the director of the Gifted Education Research and Resource Institute at Purdue University, joined Cheddar to weigh in on if advanced tracking for students can also be equitable for lower income students and students of color.
