Will the Mormon Church Ever Allow Recreational Cannabis in Utah?

Utah Medical Cannabis Act

The medical marijuana push has officially hit one of the most conservative states within the United States of America - Utah. The Utah Patients Coalition has just released a proposal to the state legislature for the Utah Medical Cannabis Act and will be on the voter ballots in the fall. 

Utah currently holds the largest population of Mormons within the United States and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has just responded officially to the Utah Medical Cannabis Act by way of an official statement on their main website.

Mormon Church Investigates

To better understand the new cannabis act, the church leaders hired a law firm to decode this new piece of law. The firm provided the church with a memorandum which listed 31 potential red flags for the church.

The official statement by the church reads:

"Accordingly, the Church asked a Salt Lake City law firm for a legal analysis of the proposed initiative to be submitted to the voters next fall. We wanted to know what the initiative would actually do, if adopted. The law firm's memorandum with its analysis follows. That memorandum raises grave concerns about this initiative and the serious adverse consequences that could follow if it were adopted."

The church urges its congregation to read the memorandum and make their own judgment. Currently, Mormons make up about 40% of Utah's entire population but account for nearly 75% of all Utah's voters.

With 31 red flags, and the way that the Mormon faith is structured, this bill is going to have a tough time being passed. The only thing that could shift the thoughts of the individuals in the church are the opioid overdoses. Utah has one of the highest opioid epidemics in the country. The epidemic directly affects even the most devout Mormons, so one would hope they would want an alternative pain relief solution on the market.

We shall see.

>> Legalizing Cannabis Would Generate £1bn in Tax for the UK

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