A Republican lawmaker wants to put an end to dispensaries selling recreational cannabis in Montana with a bill he filed on Friday, reported Montana Free Press.
Senate Bill 546 from state Sen. Keith Regier R is intended to amend the state's marijuana retail market by removing adult-use dispensaries and banning recreational marijuana sales.
The measure is intended to raise the state tax on medical cannabis from 4% to 20%, as well as to lower the potency of cannabis products and amounts that can be legally possessed.
The Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold a legislative hearing on Wednesday, March 29, said Sen. Jason Small, R the committee's chair.
Montana's cannabis market would generate less than half as much tax revenue over the same period if the bill becomes law.
If SB 546 passes, the entire cannabis program would be worthless, not only for the operators but also for consumers and patients in the state, said Zach Block, owner of Montana Canna, a dispensary in Kalispell. You're ignoring the majority of the worthy demographic and you're delivering a subpar product to a small group of people. Montana became the 14th state to legalize adult-use cannabis in 2020. Almost fifty-eight percent of voters said yes to the initiative during the November election, which made the possession and use of one ounce or less of cannabis or eight grams or less of marijuana concentrate legal for adults 21 or older.
Gov. Greg Gianforte R signed a bill to implement legalization in March 2021 and then a legislative panel approved the rules for the adult-use program the following December. Retail marijuana sales statewide on January 1, 2022, garnering $1.5 million in its first weekend of sales.
Earlier this month, the Montana House of Representatives moved forward on a measure with bipartisan support that would require cannabis growers to deal with the odor around their businesses. House Bill 304, sponsored by Rep. Jedediah Hinkle, would require all indoor weed manufacturing operations to install an air filtration system or other odor neutralization system. A separate measure, House Bill 351 from House Bill 351, from Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, was struck down last week by the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee after it received a hearing.