Legislative Update: Telehealth and Sleep Get a Real Hearing
Last week, the cannabis legislative working group met with industry members, regulators and advocates to discuss legislation being considered in the next legislative session. Keep Utah Medical attended to present our top priorities. First, allowing patients to get their card via telehealth and second, allowing doctors to recommend cannabis for any condition they believe it could benefit. Legislators are more inclined to include sleep as a condition, rather than abandon the conditions list altogether. With this information we hope to work with legislators to add sleep disturbances to the qualifying conditions list.
Our Ask: Telehealth for your first visit. Right now, most patients have to see a provider in person to get a card, and again every time they switch providers. For rural patients, people with limited mobility, and families caring for a sick loved one, that’s a real barrier. We asked lawmakers to allow telehealth for first visits, with sensible guardrails: a Utah-licensed provider with a physical office in Utah who can still see you in person when needed.
Our Ask: Sleep as a qualifying condition. A state-commissioned survey found about half of Utah patients use medical cannabis for sleep. Sleep still isn’t on the list, so a patient either doesn’t get their card, qualifies under a different condition (like pain) or avoids an honest conversation with their RMP. Sleep disturbances are a serious condition, and we believe Utah patients should be granted the ability to legally use cannabis for sleep.
The bigger fix: let doctors be doctors. Abandon the qualifying conditions entirely and trust licensed providers to decide, just as they do with every other medicine. That’s the best long-term answer. Adding sleep is the practical next step.
Two-thirds of Utah voters support improving access for qualified patients. Now lawmakers need to hear it from you.
How you can help: If you have a personal experience and are willing to share how telehealth visits or adding sleep as a condition would have better supported your medical cannabis needs please reach out. Also, consider asking your legislative representative to support telehealth first visits for medical cannabis patients and to add sleep as a qualifying condition in 2027. One or two sentences about your own experience goes a long way.
