Governor Herbert signed legislation in late 2019 facilitating the production and distribution of medical cannabis products to qualified patients by allowing these activities to be coordinated by private, rather than public, entities. The new legislation undid various changes initially made by the legislature earlier in the year, several of which were later deemed to be unworkable. Voters in 2018 approved medical cannabis access, but lawmakers eventually decided to replace the law with their own legislation. The Governor also signed separate legislation, House Bill 431, expunging certain low-level crimes, including misdemeanor marijuana possession offenses. (Link)
Governor Herbert said that federal lawmakers “ought to be ashamed” for failing to amend federal marijuana policies in a manner that comports with changing state laws regulating its medical or adult use. (Link) 2019
With regard to the prospects of a 2018 statewide medical marijuana use initiative, the Governor said in a statement: "We need to be cautious as we test and introduce cannabis into our formulary. I believe the consequences of this initiative, even if they are unintended, will do more harm than good." (3/29/18) https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2018/03/29/gov-herbert-comes-out-against-medical-marijuana-initiative-warning-it-would-open-the-door-to-recreational-use/
"I do believe that people support marijuana use for medicinal purposes. I'd support it, too. I just want to have science behind it making sure we understand it does do something good. Not just an anecdotal," he said.
Asked if he would vote for the (2018 medical use) initiative, the governor replied: "You've got to read the initiative, it's not just do you support marijuana for medical purposes. The devil's in the details as we say." (3/26/18) http://fox13now.com/2018/03/26/it-looks-like-medical-marijuana-will-be-on-the-november-ballot-in-utah/
"On medical marijuana: If there's science behind it, I'm all for it. I don't know that we have the science yet." (3/18/18) https://twitter.com/GovHerbert/status/975925860090785792
"It ought to be a controlled substance just like anything else. It ought to be approved by the FDA. It ought to be in fact prescribed by a doctor and administered by a pharmacist," Herbert told Rolling Stone. "We probably ought not to have self-medication. The physiology of different people would require probably different quantities of the medicine, and I just think that's prudent." (2/26/18) https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/jeff-sessions-governors-moving-ahead-pot-w517128
During a Fox13 interview, Herbert was asked the following: "Based on what the legislature did this session regarding legalizing medical marijuana, should those dealing with chronic pain be satisfied with the progress or should they put even more support behind a ballot initiative to make medical marijuana legal in Utah?"
"From the perspective of developing policy, we've got to have the right laws in place. We can't just turn a blind eye like federal government has done in this past administration… that's not good policy. And certainly there's anecdotal evidence, a lot of science out there kinda leads up to believe that appropriate use for medicinal marijuana would be something we ought to encourage, but we ought to have the science to back it up. But I can tell you, the jury is still out on this. I've talked with Governor Hickenlooper over on Colorado, he was against recreational use of marijuana. He knows many states have used the medicinal aspect of marijuana to lead to recreational use. And he's told me, as he's told other governors, be very careful, we're having it in Colorado, watch, it's not all turning out to be the plus we thought it was going to be, and we ought to be careful. And that really means let's take it step by step by step by step and get to the right place. We're not there now, I think we're on the right road going the right direction. If we had a cooperative federal government, so we could get the research done, I think that would enhance our opportunity to get there quicker." (3/19/17)
http://fox13now.com/2017/03/19/3-questions-with-bob-evans-gov-herbert-on-medical-marijuana-lowering-the-dui-limit-and-more/