Publicly, Utah lawmakers and officials say they are confident they’ll have the state’s medical cannabis program delivering product to patients by the March 1, 2020, deadline. But it appears meeting that deadline is going to be a challenge.
Several sources indicate to UtahPolicy.com that some of the eight companies that won cultivation licenses will struggle to begin production in time. So far, only one company, Standard Wellness, has completed every step necessary to secure a state license to begin cultivation of medical marijuana. According to public records, their facility will be in Corinne, Utah. The license for Standard Wellness was issued in mid-August.
“It is possible that not all growers will have product available by March,” said a source not authorized to speak publicly. “Some haven’t got their site confirmed yet. It takes a few months to grow the product. But, we will have adequate supply for qualified patients by March.”
Jack Wilbur, spokesperson for the Utah Department of Ag and Food said in an email statement to UtahPolicy.com, “The expectation always has been and continues to be that growers will have product ready by March 1, 2020.”
That sense of optimism may be an attempt to put a good face forward on the process as not much information is forthcoming about timelines and the ability of potential cultivators to meet them.
The department would not release contact details for any of the companies that had not yet completed the licensing process, and that information would not be made public until the final license had been granted.
Alex Howe, head of corporate communications for Harvest of Utah, one of the organizations selected for a cultivation license, says their company fully intends to meet the requirements and deadlines put forward by the state.
“We are working diligently with the relevant local permitting authorities such as planning for review of our facility. We are also working cooperatively with those authorities to ensure that as many of the permits possible can be secured concurrently to bring the project to completion within the state’s deadline,” he said in an email. Harvest of Utah has not yet secured a final license from the state.
Without a license, a company cannot begin growing medical cannabis, which could be a severe problem given the looming deadline.
It typically takes 16 weeks to cultivate medical cannabis plants. If growers are to meet the March 1st deadline, then production should reasonably begin no later than the week of November 3. That gives the seven growers who have not yet secured their licenses a little more than 7 weeks to get their operations up and running. In that time they’ll need to secure permits from local governments and build out their facilities.
But, drying, curing and processing the plant for patient use could add another 2-4 weeks to the timeline, meaning many of the license applicants have approximately a month to begin operations in order to deliver raw product to processing facilities.
So far, no licenses for medical cannabis processing have been issued.
State law has several requirements applicants must meet to be issued a license, including detailed plans for the grow facility, as well as a post-construction inspection before operations can begin.
On Monday, lawmakers made several changes to the state’s medical marijuana laws, including an increase in the number of state-licensed pharmacies for distribution to patients.
