The Mormon Church, Medical Marijuana, and Poison Pills
Two days after the Mormon Church sent its members an email instructing them to vote against Utah’s Medical Marijuana Initiative (Initiative 2), church lobbyist Marty Stephens clarified on my Facebook page that the Mormon Church would require standards that exist in no other state and that, in fact, are currently impossible to meet, before it would allow medical marijuana in Utah. This is a shady approach to politics. The Mormon Church is hoping that people who favor medical marijuana in Utah will vote against the initiative, believing—falsely—that the church would allow a workable compromise to be struck in the Utah Legislature.
An August 23, 2018, email signed by Mormon Church leader Craig Christensen stated, “The Church does not object to the medicinal use of marijuana, if doctor prescribed, in dosage form, through a licensed pharmacy.” When I pointed out to lobbyist Stephens that no state requires distribution through a “pharmacy,” Stephens responded by providing a link to an article discussing the involvement of “pharmacists”—not “pharmacies”—in New York, Connecticut, and Minnesota, saying it was currently happening. I again pointed out to Stephens that the requirement of a “pharmacy” exists in no medical marijuana state, because the federal government would strip a “pharmacy” that distributed marijuana of its license to distribute all medications. That is why some “pharmacists” operate out of non-pharmacy “dispensaries.” Stephens said that the Mormon Church would, in fact, require the new—federally impermissible—criteria of “pharmacy” distribution.
Further, Stephens clarified that the Mormon Church would, in fact, require doctor “prescriptions,” though I pointed out that no other state imposes this federally impermissible requirement. Medical marijuana states require doctor “recommendations,” because the federal government would strip doctors who “prescribe” marijuana of their ability to prescribe all medicine.
Thus, despite a professed willingness to seek a compromise solution, the Mormon Church has knowingly placed two poison preconditions on a workable solution, meaning that Utah patients would not access medical marijuana unless and until the federal government changes its laws. Though the Mormon Church is fond of arguing that it is just one voice in the debate, it is the only voice that the majority of the Utah Legislature will follow on this issue. What it wants from the Utah Legislature, it gets. By demanding novel standards that would instantly put doctors and pharmacies out of business, the Mormon Church’s professed willingness to find a solution is a cruel deception to Utah patients who need the relief that medical marijuana uniquely can deliver.
Utah voters should know, if Initiative 2 fails, Utah patients will not have legal access to medical marijuana in the foreseeable future.
Steve Urquhart was a member of the Utah Legislature for 16 years. He has privately negotiated policy issues with the Mormon Church, such as non-discrimination, hate crimes, and alcohol.