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U.S. NEWS Saturday 13 July 2019

Competition to grow medical marijuana in Utah heats up

By MORGAN SMITH sor, has a spacious ware-
Associated Press house in Salt Lake City with
NEPHI, Utah (AP) — The a team of technicians and
wide metal barn on the equipment primed to grow
Utah alfalfa farm owned medical marijuana.
by Russell and Diane Jones One room is filled with large
will host their youngest son's beakers.
wedding next month. By Sticky hemp drips through
September, they hope the paper filters and into the
structure will be full of mari- glass to extract CBD oil.
juana plants. Hemp is his side business.
The Joneses are fourth- Johnson works full-time
generation farmers, mem- in construction but views
bers of The Church of Jesus cultivating marijuana as
Christ of Latter-day Saints, a smart, long-term invest-
and among 81 applicants ment.
for one of a handful of cov- "Once (medical marijuana)
eted spots as a licensed becomes less taboo and
medical marijuana grower people opt for that over an
in conservative Utah. opiate-based drug, we're
Though leaders of their going to see more demand
faith once opposed the bid and a stronger market," he
to legalize medical mari- said.
juana, Russell Jones says he Revenues from the state's
researched the drug's pain- medical cannabis program
relieving benefits as he bat- are projected to reach $5.4
tled Hodgkin's lymphoma. million in 2020 then grow to
Now he and his wife want $16.2 million in 2021, said
to be part of an emerging In this Wednesday, June 26, 2019, photo, Diane Jones looks at her alfalfa field, in Nephi, Utah. Richard Oborn, director of
industry that some doubt- Associated Press the state health depart-
ed would ever come to the And I get that," he said. from out-of-state growers. Cannabis in its various forms ment's Center of Medical
state. Some applicants worry the The state is looking for farm- is challenging to grow and Cannabis.
"This is groundbreaking for process stacks the deck ers able to expand opera- requires a lot of experimen- Utah joined 33 states in le-
Utah," Diane Jones said. against local growers in tions as demand increases tation, he said. galizing medical marijuana
"Who doesn't want to make favor of "Big Weed," or while keeping costs low "It's fun for me. I get to be after voters approved a
history?" companies that have suc- and growing plants free of a mad scientist," Young, 52, new law last year.
Others hoping to win licens- cessfully grown cannabis in mold and pesticides. said. Leaders of the state's pre-
es include larger opera- other states where the crop At an indoor facility in North He has a personal stake in dominant faith originally
tions that grow hemp, and is legal. Salt Lake, Troy Young tends marijuana legalization. opposed the push to ask
a handful of out-of-state The application requires a to rows of hemp plants un- Young lost his mother to an voters to approve medical
growers. State officials are $2,500 fee, and submissions der the harsh, purple glow opioid addiction. If she had marijuana but eventually
expected to begin award- are hundreds of pages of LED lights designed to access to a less destruc- struck a compromise with
ing up to 10 licenses later long. Those who get a li- nurture growth. tive pain-relieving drug, like some advocates to allow
this month. cense pay $100,000 every Young grows industrial marijuana, he said, maybe medicinal use of the drug
The state recently opened year to keep it, in addition hemp, a nonpsychoactive she'd still be alive. with more regulation.
the licensing process to to buying tools and facili- cousin of marijuana legal- Marijuana has been shown Whoever wins the state's 10
out-of-state growers, a ties that can cost millions. ized in Utah last year. to help ease chronic pain, grower licenses will have to
change that makes locals Department of Agricul- He is among a number of and studies have sug- grow the cannabis in Utah.
like hemp processor Darren ture officials said they are ambitious growers who gested medical marijuana The state also will choose li-
Johnson nervous. awarding extra points to have invested in equip- laws may reduce opioid censed processors to make
"Does it bode well for me? applicants with community ment and set aside money prescribing. "There's a real medical marijuana prod-
No, but they want it to be ties as they review applica- hoping to receive a license need for it. It's not just about ucts to be sold in dispensa-
seamless. tions. to grow medical marijua- the high," Young said. ries expected to open next
They don't want hiccups. Eight applications came na. Johnson, the hemp proces- year.q