Quality in Utah Dispensaries
The Utah Bee recently put a call out to the medical cannabis community for insight and patient perspective regarding the costs and quality of product found in Utah dispensaries. Receiving many responses; some are found below. Many patients asked to be identified by their first names only or anonymously.
Patients feel the cannabis quality purchased in Utah is mediocre compared to other states.
“I bit my tongue and bought a bag of gummies and some herb to sample,” commented Julie. “The products are subpar, and it is my opinion that Utah needs more knowledgeable people handling the state cannabis program.”
Elisha agreed on subpar cannabis quality in Utah. “I went to West Wendover. Prices and quality always seem to be better than the meds I’ve purchased here in Utah.”
Jane medicates with cannabis to ease symptoms of bipolar disorder, chronic pain, and inflammation. Jane is a cardholder but gets her medical cannabis through traditional means. “I trust who I go through [to purchase cannabis]. I know I’m getting clean product.”
Sandy has used cannabis for over 30 years due to a traumatic brain injury. “Products don’t seem like cannabis products from other states…[The] carts taste chemical and unnatural.”
Zach Chase mentioned that he wished the budtenders had more knowledge but added, “… what I love about our dispensaries here is that they are really kind. Just bright and happy faces serving you your bud, and even if they haven’t really used cannabis, you can tell they want to learn and help you with your needs.”
By law, our budtenders are not allowed to share their knowledge with patients and caregivers. That right is reserved solely for the pharmacist; even if budtenders have had formal training, they have to ignore inquires. This is not common practice in other states.
The past legislative session produced a new requirement under SB192; every patient must now meet with a pharmacist for every purchase. The state’s new law adds unnecessary cost to the dispensaries, which trickles down to the patient. An already costly program is undoubtedly going to see the price go up further.
Bijan Sakaki, the co-founder of Beehive Farmacy in Salt Lake City, explained that the retail pharmacies in Utah do not produce the products they sell.
“We do have control over what products are sold on our shelves, so our purchasing team does a great job of filling our shelves with quality products they have inspected themselves,” said Sakaki. “There have been instances where quality and price don't align, in which the decision to not purchase and sell to patients was the correct decision at that time.”
The above picture shows the quality of product being grown by local producers. The plants appear weak, unhealthy, and nutrient deficient. This translates to low-quality medicine being sold in our dispensaries.
This picture was shared on social media by Conner Boyack, President, and lobbyist for Libertas Institute and engineer of the broken cannabis compromise when legislators rejected Prop 2, the people’s ballot measures.
Not all products are grown and processed equally—garbage in, garbage out, as they say. We can’t expect miracles on our shelves when there are concerns at the grows. With only eight grow licenses in the state, competition for quality products will be challenging as the system isn’t set up as a free market but more like a co-dependant cartel.
Over time our growers will become better at what they do. But in the meantime, patients are expected to buy inferior quality products at high prices. Or to break the law by turning to the black market or crossing state lines to find the medicine they desperately need.
