UtahH.B. 3892026 General SessionHouseWALLET

Cannabis Amendments

Sponsored By: Jennifer Dailey-Provost (Democratic)

Signed by Governor

AgricultureDepartment of Agriculture and FoodControlled SubstancesHealth and Human ServicesDepartment of Health and Human ServicesAgriculture & FoodMedical Cannabis

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

28 provisions identified: 13 benefits, 4 costs, 11 mixed.

Stronger penalties protect cannabis patient records

Knowing, intentional unauthorized use or release of cannabis verification records is a third-degree felony and can bring a civil penalty up to $5,000. Law enforcement misuse outside criminal justice duties is a class B misdemeanor. Negligent or reckless unlawful release is a class C misdemeanor; obtaining or trying to obtain records through fraud or misrepresentation is a third-degree felony. Specified medical-chart uses, HIPAA-compliant disclosures, and discussions with the patient remain allowed. Civil penalties follow Utah's administrative procedures and go to the General Fund.

Purchase limit relief for terminally ill patients

The department can waive the 28-day cannabis purchase limit for palliative care for up to 180 days. A recommending provider must petition for a cardholder with a terminal illness and life expectancy of six months or less. The department must consult the Compassionate Use Board and respond within 10 days after receiving the petition.

Temporary cannabis cards help patients sooner

Eligible patients get temporary electronic cards once their provider enters a recommendation in the state system. This applies only to applications that do not require Compassionate Use Board approval. Caregivers also get temporary electronic cards when designated by patients with a qualifying terminal illness. These cards last up to 60 days, ending sooner when review is completed, the application is denied, or the card is revoked. Temporary patient cards carry the same rights, restrictions, and duties as the requested patient card.

Patients face cannabis purchase and dosing limits

Medical cannabis purchases are limited in each 28-day period to the legal dosage limit, defined as a 30-day supply. The quantity caps are 113 grams of unprocessed cannabis and 20 grams of total active THC in medicinal products. Patients without provider directions and dosing guidance must consult a pharmacy medical provider before buying. Patients can use cannabis only through a method recommended by their recommending provider or pharmacy medical provider.

Acute pain access with shorter cards

Pain from an acute condition, including surgery, qualifies for medical cannabis when it is expected to last at least two weeks. The condition must generally allow a medical professional to prescribe opioids for a limited time. Cards for acute pain expire 30 days after the first conditional or full card is issued.

Faster caregiver cards and limited charges

Eligible caregivers must receive cards within 15 days after the department receives a complete, compliant application. Existing caregivers can report another patient and get another card without a new application or background check. Parents found ineligible for a guardian card can name up to two caregivers, after consulting the minor and recommending provider. Caregivers cannot charge patients for their services. Patients can repay caregivers for direct costs of helping with medical cannabis use.

Medical cannabis access for visiting patients

Utah recognizes visiting patients who are nonresidents or have lived in Utah for less than 45 days. They must hold a current medical cannabis card or equivalent from another U.S. jurisdiction. They must also have a condition that qualifies under Utah law. Visitor registration rules allow two periods each year, lasting up to 21 days each.

More treatment help for cannabis patients

Cardholders can name their assisted living facility, nursing care facility, or general acute hospital as a caregiver. The designated facility can assign staff to help with treatment and receive shipments for the cardholder in its care. A physically present adult can also help when the provider records a need based on age, illness, or disability. During a medical emergency, a physically present person of any age can help. Helpers without cards cannot ingest or inhale the cannabis or handle it outside the allowed assistance.

Visiting patients get limited cannabis access

The health department must set registration rules for qualifying medical cannabis patients visiting from another state. Registered visitors can buy medical cannabis or a medical cannabis device from Utah medical cannabis pharmacies. Registration covers no more than two visits per calendar year, each lasting up to 21 calendar days.

Cannabis oversight gets new board safeguards

The commissioner must hire three department employees as licensing board directors, serving at the commissioner's pleasure. At least one must have public health or medical experience. People with specified cannabis industry, ownership, family, or lobbying ties cannot serve as directors. The board can conduct business with two members present, down from five. The agriculture department must collaborate with the board on cannabis rules, and the board must supervise and assist medical cannabis administration.

Safer cannabinoid waste disposal and inspections

Cannabinoid processors and hemp retailers must follow applicable hazardous-waste laws when disposing of related waste and unused material. The agriculture department and its contracted laboratories must follow those laws too. People cannot delay or deny inspections authorized under Utah's hemp and cannabinoid product law.

Temporary agency help supports cannabis administration

From May 6, 2026, through January 1, 2027, the agriculture department can request help from Utah's health department. Requested help can include medical cannabis duties or technical assistance. The agriculture department can limit or end that authority and make staff available. The health department can use the Qualified Patient Enterprise Fund to cover costs of requested duties. The law sets no funding amount.

Cannabis funds support broader oversight work

The agriculture department can use the Qualified Production Enterprise Fund to carry out cannabis, hemp and cannabinoid, and kratom laws. It can use the Qualified Patient Enterprise Fund to employ the Specialized Product Authority Licensing Board. These expanded uses do not include a stated new appropriation or spending amount.

State deposits fund prevention and testing

Beginning May 6, 2026, the agriculture department must send 10% of deposits covered by this provision to the health department. That money supports tobacco and nicotine prevention. The remaining 90% supports expanded and improved state laboratory testing and enforcement of the covered law. The total funding depends on deposits; the law states no total amount.

Fewer licensing and surveillance duties for businesses

Licensed cannabis processing facilities can make compliant cannabinoid products without a separate cannabinoid processor license. Hemp retailers no longer face purchaser video-surveillance duties previously scheduled to begin January 1, 2026. The repeal also removes the required 45-day video retention and department access to those video systems.

Cannabis purchases can carry transaction fees

Utah's agriculture department can impose a uniform fee on each medical cannabis pharmacy transaction. The department sets the amount through the state's fee-setting process. The money supports the Qualified Production Enterprise Fund. The law does not state the fee amount.

Cannabis licensing loses openness and support

The Specialized Product Authority Licensing Board is exempt from Utah's general open-meeting law. Meetings and hearings specifically required by the cannabis chapter must still be public. The agriculture department no longer has to provide board staff or help conduct meetings. It also no longer has to check every submitted application for completeness and accuracy.

Hemp retailers must check THC buyers

Permitted hemp retailers must check identification when selling cannabinoid products containing THC or a THC analog. The check must confirm that the buyer is at least 21 years old.

Cannabis patient data gets new rules

The health department must explain outside research uses of patient data; applying for a cannabis card counts as consent. Applicants and cardholders can withdraw consent anytime, but withdrawal affects only research started afterward. Study data releases are limited to consenting cardholders. Providers can designate their employees or their employer's employees to use the state records system, with written notice requiring department access. Before access, employees must complete at least one hour of recognized health-information privacy education, repeated every two years.

Cannabis recommendations require checks and training

Providers generally cannot recommend cannabis through virtual visits. Exceptions cover hospice or terminal illness, assisted living or nursing care residents, and patients with specified prior in-person provider relationships. Before recommendations or renewals, providers must check photo identification, review available records, and consider the condition and substance-use history. For minors, providers must also check the parent or guardian's identification and available records. Recommending providers need the required prescribing authority and licenses, plus four hours of cannabis education, confirmed every two years.

More cannabis products with strict form limits

Medical cannabis includes medicinal products for human use processed by a cannabis facility with less than 0.3% THC-related content by dry weight; hemp-registered products are excluded. Flower must stay in a qualifying container, with packaged weight within 10% of the label. In public, it must also stay inside the pharmacy's opaque bag or box. Required labels include product details, weight, purchase date, legal use termination date, and an inventory barcode. Excluded forms include expired or improperly contained flower, metal-nail heating, beverage-branded liquids, chocolate products, and products not measured in grams, milligrams, or milliliters.

Patient cards use a tracked verification system

State agencies must procure a third-party system for cannabis cards, recommendations, pharmacy records, purchases, and inventory. The system vendor cannot hold a commercial or ownership interest in a cannabis production business or medical cannabis pharmacy. Patient and guardian cards stay inactive until the provider completes the recommendation or the pharmacy completes required recording. Access is limited by role and purpose, and every user's record access must be logged. Provider access requires the specified patient relationship; law enforcement access is limited to card verification for administering criminal justice.

Cannabis petitions stay private with public input

The licensing board takes over specified Compassionate Use Board duties, including petition rules, recommendation review, and cards when approval criteria are met. The commissioner appoints members and serves as nonvoting chair or names a chair. Meetings to review card petitions must be closed to the public. The licensing board must let the public suggest qualifying conditions for recommendation to the Legislature. It must consult the Compassionate Use Board and send condition recommendations to the Medical Cannabis Governance Structure Working Group; suggestions do not themselves expand eligibility.

Cannabis processors need approval for packaging

Processors need agriculture department approval before distributing medical cannabis with a label, logo, brand name, or packaging. They can reuse approved labels or packaging for another product when they remain compliant. Without new approval, changes are limited to flavor, terpene, or cannabis variety information. Changes to graphics, fonts, size, colors, or other details require approval.

Cannabis pharmacies face staffing and training rules

Cannabis pharmacies must have a licensed pharmacist onsite during all business hours and a pharmacist-in-charge who oversees operations and inventory. Eligible pharmacy medical providers must receive registration within 15 days after submission of required information, license proof, education acknowledgment, and fee. Cards last two years; providers need four hours of cannabis education before registration and four hours before each two-year renewal. Recommending providers cannot register in this pharmacy role. Registered pharmacy medical providers can advertise a green cross, registration and dispensing, or cannabis research; other people remain barred from advertising dispensing.

Cannabis businesses get hearings and appeal rules

Production, pharmacy, and courier license renewals must be reviewed at public meetings. Applicants must attend in person or electronically, or submit information as the board requires. Adding hemp processing or cultivation at a cannabis processing facility's location also requires a public hearing. The production licensing advisory board can close meetings to review confidential violation and security information. The licensing board must establish rules and hear informal appeals of administrative actions under cannabis, hemp and cannabinoid, and kratom laws.

Cannabis growers gain locations with added fees

The agriculture department can authorize up to three cultivation locations per license, up from two. Growers pay $15,000 for each location after the second. Combined locations remain subject to cultivation limits of 100,000 indoor square feet or four outdoor acres. Growers can request a one-time permanent increase up to 20%, or a temporary increase up to 40% for 12 months.

Cannabis growers gain sites but pay

Licensed cannabis growers can operate at up to three addresses under one license, up from two. All addresses must use that single cultivation license. Growers must pay $15,000 for each location beyond the second. The law does not state how often this fee is charged.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Jennifer Dailey-Provost
Democratic • House

Cosponsors

Evan J. Vickers
Republican • Senate

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 178 • No: 3

House vote • 3/5/2026

House/ concurs with Senate amendment

Yes: 72 • No: 1

Senate vote • 3/5/2026

Senate/ substituted

Yes: 0 • No: 0

Senate vote • 3/5/2026

Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension

Yes: 26 • No: 0

Senate vote • 2/25/2026

Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation

Yes: 5 • No: 0

House vote • 2/19/2026

House/ substituted