(Salt Lake City, UT) – The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) encourages all medical cannabis patients who hold recommendation letters to register as cardholders prior to the upcoming December 31, 2020 deadline.

After this date, recommendation letters will no longer be accepted at medical cannabis pharmacies to allow patients to purchase medical cannabis. The changes that take effect January 1, 2021 also remove protections previously granted for patients who possess medical cannabis purchased outside the state of Utah. On January 1, 2021 any cannabis product in an individual’s possession must have been purchased from a licensed Utah medical cannabis pharmacy.

Information about how to get a medical cannabis card can be found at https://medicalcannabis.utah.gov.

As of November 30, 2020, the UDOH has 16,096 active medical cannabis patients and 560 active qualified medical providers. Currently, there are seven medical cannabis pharmacies open in Utah. An additional seven medical cannabis pharmacies are expected to open by the end of March 2021.