House Speaker Greg Hughes says he jumped into the debate over Prop. 2 and legalizing medical marijuana because he was worried the issue had the potential to rip Utah politics apart.
“The LDS Church is a strong presence in Utah. I was worried about was a contentious campaign that could divide people. You could see people within their families, within their neighborhoods, within their congregations shouting at one another, angry with one another,” said Hughes. “It was already happening. And, as we were getting closer to the General Conference weekend, the rhetoric could be ramped up pretty high, and I thought there was nothing good that was going to happen from that.”
Hughes sat down with Managing Editor Bryan Schott for an extensive interview. For the first time, explains how the grand compromise on medical marijuana came about. He discusses how he got the players to trust each other and how the deal almost was derailed multiple times, and the moment he believed a compromise was possible.
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