Utah Cannabis Advocacy: UPC, TRUCE, Libertas, Keep Utah Medical

Last verified: April 2026

Utah Patients Coalition (UPC)

The Utah Patients Coalition — utahpatients.org — is the program’s lead patient advocate. UPC was founded in 2017 with assistance from the Marijuana Policy Project and the Libertas Institute and gathered roughly 153,000 signatures to qualify Proposition 2 for the 2018 ballot.

Executive Director Desiree Hennessy is the mother of the late Estevan, who used cannabis for cerebral-palsy nerve pain. She sits on the state Medical Cannabis Policy Advisory Board and has been the most consistent named patient voice in Utah cannabis reporting since the 2018 negotiation. UPC celebrated the May 2025 100,000-patient milestone and called SB 64’s card-drive ban “a heartbreaking loss.” The organization continues annual lobbying and is currently advocating for therapeutic psilocybin (SB 200) alongside medical cannabis improvements.

Contact: (435) 932-0633 · info@utahpatients.org · utahpatients.org.

They stopped listening to us, and they just put their blinders on and would not even have a conversation.

Desiree Hennessy, Utah Patients Coalition — Salt Lake Tribune (February 26, 2025)

TRUCE Utah (Wound Down 2024-2025)

TRUCE Utah (Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education) was founded by brain-tumor patient Christine Stenquist. TRUCE was the dissenting voice that refused to back HB 3001 in December 2018 and joined the post-Compromise litigation alongside the Epilepsy Association of Utah, Doug Rice, and Stenquist herself.

TRUCE has wound down in 2024-2025. Stenquist now does cannabis-policy consulting and hosts a “Plant Medicine, People, and Progress” segment on KRCL. At closure, after more than 12 years of advocacy, Stenquist remarked: “I think I made a societal difference. Utah’s changing.” Patients seeking TRUCE-style advocacy should now contact the Utah Patients Coalition or the Utah Cannabis Association.

Libertas Institute

The Libertas Institute is a libertarian Utah think tank, headed by president Connor Boyack. Libertas was a fellow-traveler of the original Prop 2 effort and has continued drafting cannabis-friendly legislation in the years since — most prominently SB 170 (2021), which created the Limited Medical Provider category and let any controlled-substance-licensed provider recommend cannabis to up to 15 patients without a full QMP registration. Libertas continues to draft legislation in the 2026 cycle.

Keep Utah Medical

Keep Utah Medical is an industry-aligned coalition led by Alex Iorg, co-founder of WholesomeCo. The coalition commissioned the 2024-2025 Noble Predictive Insights polls that documented the polling shift toward recreational support. Despite that polling, Iorg and Keep Utah Medical have explicitly stated they will not push a recreational ballot initiative, fearing backlash that could damage the existing medical program. Their public posture is the central reason there is no active 2026 cannabis ballot effort — and one of the most distinctive features of Utah’s cannabis politics.

Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) — Utah

The Marijuana Policy Project — mpp.org/states/utah — was a key technical partner on the 2018 Prop 2 campaign and continues to advise UPC and grade Utah politicians. MPP backed Rep. Grant Miller’s 2026 HB 253, which would reclassify possession of up to 14 grams as a $750 civil infraction on first offense.

NORML Utah

NORML Utah — norml.org/chapter/utah-norml — is the state-level chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. NORML produces the gubernatorial and legislative grades that have rated Cox “B / MEDICAL USE” and tracks Utah possession-penalty status. NORML’s national policy classifications confirm that Utah possession remains a Class B misdemeanor on first offense — correcting the recurring online claim that HB 348 (2015) decriminalized small amounts.

Epilepsy Association of Utah

The Epilepsy Association of Utah was an original Prop 2 supporter and refused to back HB 3001. Today it is a frequent Compassionate Use Board recommendation partner for non-listed pediatric and seizure conditions.

How They Line Up

Why the Coalition Map Matters

The Utah Compromise of 2018 was negotiated with UPC and Libertas at the table; TRUCE refused to sign. That split — patient-coalition pragmatism vs. dissenting refusal — remains the structural fault line in Utah cannabis advocacy. With TRUCE wound down and Keep Utah Medical explicitly opposed to a recreational initiative, no major Utah cannabis-advocacy organization is currently pushing for recreational legalization despite the polling. See the reform overview for the full picture and 2026 and beyond for what could change that.

Explore Reform & Politics