State Regulator , Richard Oborn, Utah Department of Health
Access to medical cannabis has now been a reality since March, 2020, but it didn’t start there. It actually started four years before Proposition 2 was passed, beginning with the Hemp Extract Registration Program of 2014, which granted patients with intractable epilepsy access to CBD.
Now, many in Utah’s medical cannabis program will tell you about the immeasurable improvements to quality of life resulting from cannabis treatment.
In his role as Director of the Center for Medical Cannabis at the Utah Department of Health (UDOH), such stories fuel Richard Oborn’s passion to one day make Utah’s medical cannabis programs among the best in the country.
As UDOH launched the Hemp Extract Registration Program, Oborn oversaw regulation and licensing of retail pharmacies and pharmacists for the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL) at the Utah Department of Commerce. In that capacity, Oborn became curious about how many states had begun legalizing medical cannabis despite its federal prohibition.
“Just about every legislative session some version of medical cannabis legislation would come up in Utah. I would research it because medical cannabis was indirectly related to my pharmacy regulation role at DOPL ” Oborn said. “I was naturally interested. It was fascinating to me that so many states were legalizing cannabis although it was federally illegal and I couldn’t help but want to learn more.”
Oborn left DOPL a year later to become UDOHs State Registrar and Director of Office of Vital Records and Statistics. He also assumed responsibility over the state’s Hemp Extract Registration Program and unknowingly, took his first steps to becoming the UDOH cannabis czar. In 2018, Oborn helped plan for the eventual passage of Prop 2, and was selected to lead the newly created Center for Medical Cannabis in the process.
Today, Oborn works with a team of seven who are responsible for patient registration, qualifying and educating medical practitioners, overseeing pharmacy operations, and coordinating with the Compassionate Use and Cannabinoid Product Boards.
“It’s exciting to see patients empowered to purchase the medicine that helps them best,” said Oborn. “Medical cannabis does not help in all cases, but it is remarkable to see the differences that cannabis is making in the lives of some patients with epilepsy, cancer, chronic pain, PTSD, and other medical conditions.”
Although medical cannabis isn’t covered by insurance, which incurs added costs, Oborn says, some patients are shedding their opiates and other medications for cannabis. In fact, 90% of respondents to UDOHs first patient survey rated medical cannabis’ ability to improve the symptoms of their conditions as a significant life-changing benefit. Although the program sometimes struggles in its infancy, Oborn remains confident supply will improve once companies have time to grow and manufacture more products, which will help maintain a reliable patient program.
“Utah’s program came a long way in 2020 but there is much more work to be done,” said Oborn. “The price, and supply will improve in 2021 and 2022 as the cultivators and processors produce bigger volumes and varieties of cannabis products for medical cannabis pharmacies to sell to qualifying patients. We don’t have a perfect program right now, but I believe we are headed in the right direction and building a solid program that Utah can be proud of.”
As of this writing, Utah is home to more than 20,000 medical cannabis patients.
Published in Salt Baked City Print Magazine – Spring 2021
