Montana lawmakers continue to look at changes to marijuana laws

HELENA – A 12 months into Montana’s launch of authorized leisure marijuana gross sales, the state Legislature is a collection of payments that might revise the principles for the marijuana trade.

On Monday, the Senate Enterprise, Labor and Financial Affairs Committee heard testimony on two marijuana-related payments.

Home Invoice 351, sponsored by Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, R-Billings, would prohibit marijuana companies in Montana from selling their enterprise or model in print, over TV and radio or utilizing a billboard.

At present, state regulation says licensees might not promote “marijuana or marijuana merchandise,” however they’re allowed to market their model, as permitted in Montana Division of Income guidelines.

Seekins-Crowe mentioned she felt promoting from marijuana companies has gone past what state leaders initially meant, and that HB 351 would create essential sideboards.

“That is what we do: We are saying, “That is how we wish this to look, we’ve regulated this on this trade, and that is a part of the laws with this,’” she mentioned.

However the invoice drew opposition from marijuana companies and from the Montana Newspaper Affiliation.

They mentioned most individuals within the trade have gone to nice lengths to ensure their promoting follows the present guidelines, and many of the points persons are involved about have come from a couple of unhealthy actors.

“What you may have then is a cycle of the regulation getting stricter, and the people who find themselves getting round it hold getting round it, and the people who find themselves compliant are simply constantly struggling the implications of stricter legal guidelines,” mentioned Kate Cholewa, with the Montana Hashish Business Affiliation.

Opponents of the invoice steered it will be simpler to present the Division of Income extra employees to implement the present promoting guidelines.

Kristan Barbour, administrator of Income’s Hashish Management Division, estimated that solely about seven or eight licensees — out of greater than 400 — have violated state promoting necessities.

“It’s very, very small,” she mentioned.

Barbour mentioned state regulators take a look at dispensaries’ commercials and on-line presence once they do common inspections, however most of their enforcement is pushed by complaints from the general public.

The committee additionally heard testimony Monday on Home Invoice 611, sponsored by Rep. Jane Gillette, R-Bozeman.

That invoice would revise the required warning labels that marijuana companies should placed on their merchandise, to say that marijuana use throughout being pregnant might end in “congenital anomalies, and inherited cancers developed by a baby later in life.”

Gillette mentioned state lawmakers in different states are methods like this to “strengthen messaging” about potential well being dangers linked to marijuana. Opponents of the invoice questioned whether or not present information justifies the considerations this language would increase.

The committee didn’t take instant motion on both invoice Monday.

Different marijuana-related payments which have already moved ahead embrace Home Invoice 304, sponsored by Rep. Jedediah Hinkle, R-Belgrade, which might require marijuana growers and producers of marijuana merchandise to put in air filtration programs to deal with considerations about odor. That invoice cleared the Home and is awaiting a listening to within the Senate.

Additionally at subject this session can be whether or not to regulate the best way the state makes use of marijuana tax income. A number of payments have been proposed that might create completely different fashions for distributing these funds.

Specifically, they suggest eradicating a bit in state regulation that directs a share of taxes from marijuana gross sales towards Habitat Montana — a program that makes use of state funds for wildlife habitat conservation initiatives. Gov. Greg Gianforte has mentioned this system has greater than sufficient funding and not wants the marijuana income.

Final week, the Senate Finance and Claims Committee held a listening to on Senate Invoice 442, sponsored by Sen. Mike Lang, R-Malta, which might redirect that share of marijuana income from Habitat Montana to bettering rural county roads, with an eye fixed towards bettering entry to habitat. That invoice handed a preliminary vote within the Senate, 33-17.

Home Invoice 462, sponsored by Rep. Marta Bertoglio, R-Montana Metropolis, would shift tax revenues towards regulation enforcement applications, together with the Montana Freeway Patrol, recruiting correctional officers and conducting human trafficking and narcotics investigations.

Home Invoice 669, from Rep. Invoice Mercer, R-Billings, would take away most particular allocations of marijuana income, together with to Habitat Montana, and direct the cash to the state normal fund.

Each of these payments had preliminary hearings within the Home Appropriations Committee final month, however the committee hasn’t taken motion since.

Home Invoice 842, sponsored by Rep. Scot Kerns, R-Nice Falls, would go away the allocation for Habitat Montana, however it will redirect a smaller share of marijuana taxes to supply incentives for elevated psychological well being companies in areas with a present scarcity of these companies. That invoice has not but had its first committee listening to.