The state of Utah has eliminated a proposed residency requirement for Utah cannabis cultivation.
The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, which is responsible for establishing rules for the state’s emerging medical marijuana program, has decided that residency restrictions could run afoul of federal law.
This Wednesday the agriculture department is holding a public hearing on the latest draft of its cannabis cultivation rules.
Tom Paskett, executive director of the Utah Cannabis Association remarked that local farmers wanted a rule that guaranteed the cannabis cultivation licenses would go to businesses located inside the state.
“But I think at the end of the day, most people realized that it wasn’t something that was going to stand up as a policy,” Paskett explained. “It was just a quagmire that the state was trying to avoid.”
So far eighty-one businesses have applied for one of 10 cannabis growing licenses, and the state is currently evaluating the submissions.
