Five rules approved to expand Montana’s cannabis industry

The Interim Economic Affairs Committee, made up of members of the Senate and state parliament, met on Monday, where lawmakers passed five amendments to resolve issues with the state’s cannabis industry proposed by the Montana Treasury Department.

Montana was one of four states last year where voters approved measures to legalize the recreational pot when they voted (Arizona, South Dakota, and New Jersey were the other three).

Big Sky Country law was formally codified in the spring when legislators passed House Bill 701, which was then signed by Republican Governor Greg Gianforte.

In particular, the legislation helped set up the HEART Fund, which uses proceeds from the newly formed cannabis program to fund substance abuse treatment.

“Since January, our focus has been on executing the will of Montana voters in a safe, responsible, and appropriately regulated manner. House Bill 701 achieves this, ”Gianforte said after signing the bill in May. “It was clear to me from the start that we needed to find more resources to tackle the drug epidemic that is devastating our communities. The HEART Fund finances a full continuum of addiction prevention and treatment programs for communities and will offer new support to miners who want to get clean, sober and healthy. “

House Bill 701 authorized the Treasury Department to oversee the new cannabis policy in Montana, which has resulted in constant back-and-forth between the department and state lawmakers. In late October, the department’s regulators revealed rules for the upcoming recreational cannabis market, which include more than a dozen different sections of the program: license, application, and renewal fees; Marijuana maker licenses; Marijuana grower licenses; Marijuana pharmacy licenses; Licenses for marijuana vans; combined use licenses; Laboratory licenses for marijuana testing; Endorsement of marijuana storage facilities; Work permits; general labeling regulations; Labeling requirements for marijuana flowers; Labeling of ingestible marijuana fortified products; Labeling of non-ingestible products fortified with marijuana; Labeling regulations for marijuana concentrates and extracts and packaging requirements.

The newly approved rules, passed on Monday, will allow tribal governments to expand their operations through higher capacity licenses. When lawmakers first passed House Bill 701, each tribe was only given access to Tier 1 licenses, which allow indoor growing areas of no more than 1,000 square feet. Now any tribal government is allowed to obtain higher level licenses. The highest level is 12 below HB 701, which, according to the Independent Record, would allow for acreage of no more than 50,000 square feet.

According to the new rules, however, the outdoor grow operation should remain on the same square meters.

Not all Montana lawmakers endorsed the rule changes

While the clock was ticking for Montana’s new cannabis law to go into effect, state lawmakers called for a break.

Montana Public Radio reported that the state Treasury Department “needs to send rules for the new industry to the office of the Montana Secretary of State” earlier this week because it is the department’s job to “enforce those policies through rulemaking, but target Republicans and Democrats” The Interim Economic Committee agrees that these regulations need to be changed. “

Legislators there said, according to local television station KTVH, “they want to take some more time to go through the rules for these sales,” which are due to begin on New Year’s Day when members of the interim economic committee “voted.” informally object to the current rule proposals of the Treasury of Montana. “This step would have intended to” delay the rule-making process by a few days while the legislature speaks with the department and takes a closer look at the proposals, “reported KTVH.

Lawmakers last week raised concerns that some of the ministry’s proposals fell short. KTVH reported that Republican Senator Jason Ellsworth had concerns “about some of the provisions that he believes depart too far from what lawmakers intended with HB 701,” including “rules that would allow outdoor marijuana growers – otherwise banned, but on the grandfather’s side if “they were already in operation – to increase their acreage”, as well as a “modified rule that would allow marijuana pharmacies to label their products with the word ‘cannabis’ instead of ‘marijuana’. “

“Since this is such an important issue for the state of Montana, it is our duty to make sure it is 100% correct, 100% the legislature – that our legislative intentions for the people of Montana are being fulfilled,” Ellsworth said opposite the station “This is our job, and only our job.”