Have you heard about the new Electronic Verification System (EVS) for Medical Cannabis patients and providers in Utah? The Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) has been talking about it for several months now. The new EVS was officially launched on August 12, 2024.
If you are a current Medical Cannabis Card holder, don’t panic. You don’t need to do anything special to use the new EVS. You do not even need to find a new website address. You log on to the system via the same website you used before. You’ll find that your profile is still intact and that all your information is up to date.
From the state’s perspective, the new EVS makes for easier program administration. But the updated system also benefits providers and patients too. We encourage you to check out the new EVS as soon as you have some spare time.
Most of the changes made to the state’s Medical Cannabis program over the years have been intentionally designed to make the program better. The same reasoning has been applied to the new EVS. According to the DHS website, the new system offers six key improvements:
Bear in mind that every new online platform has its growing pains. The new EVS should be a substantial improvement over the system it replaces. But over the next several months, we should all expect some hiccups.
If you are new to Medical Cannabis in Utah, the whole EVS thing might seem foreign to you. The first thing you need to know is that the EVS is your gateway to all things Medical Cannabis in Utah. You will need an account on the system just to apply for a Medical Cannabis Card.
The EVS shares account information with the UtahID program. If you already have a UtahID, you will use the same credentials to create your EVS account. If you don’t have a UtahID account, you will have to create one before you can use the EVS.
The EVS is where you submit your Medical Cannabis Card application. It is where your medical provider enters information about your medical condition, current health, etc. Finally, the EVS is the platform through which you pay for your card and renew it the following year.
One last thing to note is that nothing changes for visitors hoping to gain access to Medical Cannabis while in Utah. The state still issues visitor cards through the EVS. Visitors need to establish EVS accounts and provide supporting documentation with their applications. It is not possible to obtain a visitor card without going through the EVS.
We commend the state for continually working to make Utah’s Medical Cannabis program better. An upgraded EVS is just the latest step taken by state regulators to streamline and improve access to Medical Cannabis. We are looking forward to positive reviews from both patients and providers alike. Hopefully, the newly launched EVS will exceed everyone’s expectations. If it doesn’t, it will be back to the proverbial drawing board for DHS.
