Marijuana Business Magazine January 2020

Marijuana Business Magazine | January 2020 106 Main measures MMJ business regulations State tax requirements Sampling of state licensing & application fees House Bill 3001 (Passed in 2018) The text of House Bill 3001 sets forth rules governing all aspects of business operations, including security, storage, transportation, processing, packaging and advertising. Although the list of qualifying medical conditions is extensive, Utah has issued tight regulations for the forms of medical marijuana sold—including a requirement that flower be sold in blister pack containers. Medical cannabis will be exempt from sales tax. Application Cultivator: $10,000 Dispensary: $2,500 (urban and rural) Home delivery pharmacy: $2,500 (urban and rural) Processors: $1,250 (Tier 1 and Tier 2) Testing lab: $500 License Cultivator: $100,000 Dispensary: $67,000 (urban); $50,000 (rural) Home delivery pharmacy: $69,500 (urban); $52,500 (rural) Processors: $100,000 (Tier 1); $35,000 (Tier 2) Testing lab: $15,000 All licenses are renewed annually.   What to watch The Utah Department of Health will begin accepting applications for medical cannabis patient cards on or before March 1, 2020. While the patient pool may remain small and grow slowly, once the application process is open, the size and scope of the market will become clearer. Utah lawmakers already met once during a special session to revamp the state’s medical marijuana rules. It is possible that the rules—including caps on the number of marijuana businesses, qualifying conditions and forms of marijuana allowed—could yet be in flux. Sales are not legally required to begin in 2020, so changes could still occur. MarketAtAGlance | Utah Although legal medical marijuana sales in Utah are not scheduled to begin before Jan. 1, 2021, state regulators have been working to finalize all MMJ rules and infrastructure with the expectation that sales could start as early as spring 2020. Some experts believe Utah’s medical marijuana patient pool will start small and grow slowly—hitting 50,000 patients (1.5% of the total population) after five years—but others believe the number of cultivation and dispensary licenses issued is falling short of expected demand. The state chose to issue only eight of the mandated 15 cultivation licenses, raising concerns about future product shortages. Lawmakers increased the number of dispensaries statewide from seven to 14, but some advocates believe this number still falls short of what’s needed to reach patients statewide. As Utah continues its licensing process, the market’s longer-term sustainability will come into focus. – Maggie Cowee