The Utah Department of Health announced on Wednesday that its 15th medical cannabis pharmacy license has been issued in the state, which will result in a facility in Carbon County.
The announcement stated that Dragonfly Wellness has been issued the license to open a facility in Price following a competitive bidding process. Dragonfly Wellness was one of the eight applicants for the license.
“Dragonfly Wellness will open a facility in Price, Utah, making it the first medical cannabis pharmacy located in Carbon County and Southeast Utah,” the Utah Department of Health shared. “Utah law required the 15th pharmacy license be given to a business located in either Daggett, Duchesne, Uintah, Carbon, Sevier, Emery, Grand or San Juan County.”
Dragonfly Wellness already owns a medical cannabis pharmacy in Salt Lake City. The Department of Health shared that it is a vertically-integrated cannabis business with both a cannabis processor and cannabis cultivator license from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
Fourteen other pharmacy locations currently exist throughout the state, mainly in urban areas. The Price facility will bring medical cannabis options to rural communities, a first since Utah’s medical cannabis program launched in March 2020.
“The evaluation committee spent many hours evaluating applications from companies seeking this medical cannabis pharmacy license,” said Richard Oborn from the Utah Department of Health, Center for Medical Cannabis. “The process was highly competitive and some qualified applicants were left disappointed, but that is the nature of a highly-competitive process.”
According to the Utah Department of Health, license applications were evaluated and scored by an evaluation committee based on several criteria. Requirements included experience in medical cannabis or other highly-regulated industries, disciplinary action or investigation in Utah or other jurisdictions, an operating plan to ensure the safety and security of cardholders and the community, the extent to which an applicant can reduce the cost of medical cannabis, connections to the local community, and a strategic plan with a high likelihood of success.
“The Utah Department of Health is committed to ensuring patients have safe and reliable access to medical cannabis and we are confident that Dragonfly Wellness is well prepared to meet the needs of qualifying patients living in Southeastern Utah,” Oborn said.
Currently, nearly 40,000 Utah residents are registered medical cannabis cardholders. These cards are issued by more than 800 medical providers that have registered with the Utah Department of Health to recommend medical cannabis to qualifying patients.
More information about applying for a medical cannabis card can be found online at medicalcannabis.utah.gov.