SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah's decision to award a smaller number of medical marijuana grower licenses than the amount allowed by law is being challenged by a rejected applicant claiming the state granted a license to unqualified cultivators and could create a cannabis shortage that forces patients to buy on the black market.
The administrative appeal could further delay the rollout of medical marijuana for the state because licenses cannot be finalized until protests are resolved, under state law.
The state's Department of Agriculture selected eight companies to grow medical marijuana for its program set to open next year. Although the new law allows Utah to award up to 10 licenses at the start of the program, state officials say they chose to only hand out eight to avoid an oversupply of cannabis.
