Banks are currently forbidden by federal law to deal with the medical marijuana businesses, forcing the marijuana industry to work off of cash alone. (Photo: Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press)
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food and the Utah Division of Purchasing have released the list of eight companies that will legally be allowed to grow Marijuana.
The eight selected cultivators are:
● Dragonfly Greenhouse
● Harvest of Utah
● Oakbridge Greenhouses
● Standard Wellness Utah
● True North of Utah
● Tryke Companies Utah
● Wholesome Ag.
● Zion Cultivars
Utah’s commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Food Kerry Gibson thanked all the businesses and individuals that participated in the process. He says he believes their picks will keep the quality and safety of medical cannabis.
“Our committee spent hundreds of hours reviewing 81 applications to make sure they selected the top producers who will deliver a high-quality, safe product for Utahns,” Gibson says.
Gibson says that of the eight selected, four of them already have existing businesses in Utah and the other four are out of state but have ties to Utah.
The Utah Medical Cannabis Act allowed for 10 licenses but the Department of Agriculture and Food decided to only award eight.
Andrew Rigby, Director of Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Programs, Utah Department of Agriculture and Food says the decision to limit the licenses was made to prevent an oversaturation in the market.
“The decision to only award eight licenses was made to avoid an oversupply of product, while still maintaining a healthy diversity of cultivators for purposes of competition of product quality and patient pricing,” Rigby says.
Melissa Ure with UDAF says that the eight selected growers are still waiting for final approval for their licenses which will be given after the completion of background checks and checks to make sure everything is in compliance with all of Utah’s laws and rules.