SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Republican Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said he wants lawmakers to take action on medical cannabis regardless of whether a November 2018 ballot initiative to legalize it passes.
The Deseret News reported Herbert said at his monthly news conference Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018, on Salt Lake City PBS affiliate KUED-TV that he’ll use his “bully pulpit” to push a compromise allowing more patients access to the drug.
Herbert says he’ll vote against the ballot initiative known as Proposition 2, which came under fire from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, among others.
But he also said lawmakers should be able to support a “commonsense position” that could include having county health departments serving as dispensaries.
Medical-cannabis advocates decided to take the issue to the voters after years of frustration with the Republican-dominated Legislature.
