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).
Vault, an NFT platform that allows creators to curate their own music and videos via an exclusive invitation, recently teamed up with independent artist Pip for the launch of his new album "Cotton Candy Skies." Nigel Eccles, the CEO of Vault, and singer-songwriter Pip joined Cheddar News to break down how the new platform works and why it's different from other blockchain concepts. "The way we've built it is we use the NFTs as keys that unlock the vault, and it's only the people who have those keys can actually see the contents of the vault," said Eccles. Pip added that he felt "inspired" to help with a new way of doing things in the music industry.
Catching you up on entertainment headlines with Queen Elizabeth II missing the Platinum Jubilee church service after experiencing discomfort during yesterday’s celebration, Harry and Meghan Markle made their first return to Britain after quitting their royal duties, the Animation Guild looking to unionize production and IT workers at popular shows like the "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy," Post Malone dropping his new album “Twelve Carat Toothache’, and more.
Margie Haber is one of Hollywood's top acting coaches. She has worked with Brad Pitt, Halle Berry, and Tiffany Haddish to name a few. Besides being an acting coach, she's also an author. Haber joined Cheddar News to talk about her second book, 'F*ck Your Comfort Zone.'
Hannah Schwab, Global Co-Chair of Gender Expansive Council at JPMorgan Chase, joins ChedHER to discuss the goal of the Gender Expansive Council and what kind of resources organizations can offer to support the LGBT+ community.
On this episode of ChedHER: Tiffany Johnson, CEO of Built for Launch, discusses the Black Founders Ecom Pledge that provides tools and resources for Black founders to build, launch, and scale a successful e-commerce business; Alexa von Tobel, Founder and Managing Partner of Inspired Capital, and Leoni Runge, Founder of Zaya, breaks down the state of maternal care and support for female founders in venture capital; Hannah Schwab, Global Co-Chair of Gender Expansive Council at JPMorgan Chase, explains the goal of the Gender Expansive Council and what kind of resources organizations can offer to support the LGBT+ community.
Alexa von Tobel, Founder and Managing Partner of Inspired Capital, and Leoni Runge, Founder of Zaya, join ChedHER to discuss the state of maternal care and support for female founders in venture capital.
Tiffany Johnson, CEO of Built for Launch, joins ChedHER to discuss the Black Founders Ecom Pledge that provides tools and resources for Black founders to build, launch, and scale a successful e-commerce business.
Today is National Doughnut Day! Cheddar News celebrated with Steven Klein, the owner of Dough Doughnuts in New York City, who joined us with some delicious samples from hibiscus flavored to ube cheesecake. "It's a fun fest that people love doughnuts, and it's a way of celebrating doughnuts that people just want to try, and they want to try with their friends, their offices, their parties, their groups," said Klein. "So we get inundated in all our stores with lines of people coming to buy multiple doughnuts to celebrate the day."
While the United States struggles with mass shootings, other countries have had success with gun regulations - often after their own mass shootings. On this Gun Awareness Day, Cheddar's Shannon LaNier reports on steps some other countries have taken to stop gun violence.
President Biden implores Congress to take a stand against gun violence and LeBron James's billionaire status. Here is everything you Need2Know for Friday, June 3, 2022.
