Nearly two-thirds of registered medical marijuana patients in Utah aren’t purchasing their medicine from regulated channels, but instead they continue to buy from the illicit market, officials with the state Department of Agriculture found in a recent study.
The annual market analysis study, performed by Cannabis Public Policy Consulting, led the Department of Agriculture to conclude it has more work to do to persuade cannabis patients to purchase from state-licensed dispensaries instead of street dealers.
“I am proud to see that overall, patients are able to legally access their medication within the state at a reasonable cost compared to other medical cannabis markets. However, we can clearly see that additional efforts are needed to bring more Utahns into the medical cannabis program from illicit sources,” Dr. Brandon Forsyth, the department’s director of Industrial Hemp and Medical Cannabis, said in a press release.
The consulting firm polled 197 current or former registered medical marijuana patients, and found that:
- 60% of marijuana products purchased were from illicit sources instead of “regulated pharmacies.”
- 41% of patients had limited access to medical marijuana products.
- 25% of patients continued to travel outside the state to buy cannabis due to cost, with 58% of those traveling to either Colorado or Nevada.
On average, respondents said they spent $109.10 in the past month on cannabis, compared to an average national monthly spend by medical marijuana patients of $119.
The most important factor in purchases, according to 28% of respondents, the largest cohort, was price. Second most important, said 22% of respondents, was THC or CBD content.
“This suggests that when patients are seeking to purchase cannabis, they place less importance on where cannabis comes from or the type of strains available than they do the price of the item for sale and the product’s THC or CBD content,” the report states.
Only 8% of respondents indicated that they only purchased marijuana from state-licensed pharmacies, while most said they were getting their cannabis from multiple sources.
Respondents indicated they were getting a total monthly average of 21 grams, which breaks down thusly:
- 4 grams of medical cannabis a month from regulated pharmacies in Utah.
- 3.5 grams from out-of-state recreational marijuana shops.
- 3 grams from in-state “dealers.”
- 3 grams gained as gifts.
- 2.4 grams from regulated pharmacy deliveries.
- 1.3 grams from home cultivation.
- 1.9 grams from “other” sources.
“On average, patients indicated sourcing approximately 8.47 grams per month from regulated sources in the state of Utah, and approximately 12.64 grams in the past month from illicit sources. According to these findings, approximately 59.87% of total grams sourced are from illicit sources,” the report stated.
“These results demonstrate robust diversification of cannabis sourcing with no single category surpassing 20% of total grams sourced, and approximately 40.13% of total demand being captured by sources that are considered regulated (i.e. medical pharmacy, delivery, caregivers),” the report stated. “While diversification is expected, this number of grams obtained at regulated pharmacies for the medical cannabis patients is lower than what is expected.”
“In short, Utah’s regulated medical cannabis market is losing patients to other markets,” the report concluded. “Strategic placement of additional access points for medical cannabis in Utah may have the intended effect of lowering the rates of travel outside of the state for cannabis or increasing regulated cannabis use.”
