12/4/18

Montana cannabis industry still blunted by federal law

Despite Republican entrenchment Democrats in Montana's legislature worked to bring better testing for contaminants to better serve that state's therapeutic cannabis patients and providers.
Though medical marijuana is legal in Montana, the city of Helena cannot issue a business license to a marijuana dispensary or grow operation as marijuana is illegal under federal law. Helena city commissioners gave first passage Monday to a resolution that would suspend enforcement of a portion of city code forbidding the city to license marijuana-related businesses. A hearing for final passage will be held Dec. 17 at the commission’s final meeting of the year. If the resolution passes, licenses could be issued 30 days later. [Helena Independent Record]
Democrats are keenly aware that to energize millennials and a jaded base radical times call for sensible approaches to reforms of civil liberties for all adults.
There are rumblings of getting a measure on the 2020 Montana ballot, but marijuana advocates want to see new rules implemented on the existing medical marijuana law before focusing on recreational use. Stillwater Labs tests marijuana for contaminants, mold byproducts, potency and more. New rules include implementing mandatory licensing and inspections and allowing post-traumatic stress disorder as an eligible ailment. To see a full list of the new medical marijuana rules click here. [NBC Montana]
Montana's legislature meets every other year and in 2019 the body could revisit legal cannabis for all adults then Rob and Diane will pioneer Alzada's Stoneville Saloon as western South Dakota's and northeastern Wyoming's closest cannabis dispensary.


2 comments:

larry kurtz said...

"It was at the Oct. 4 General Council meeting that Blackfeet Councilman Rodney “Minnow” Gervais Jr. made a case for the Blackfeet Tribe amending Ordinance 95 to come into line with a 2004 Montana law that allows medical marijuana to be used by patients who qualify and hold a card from the state that gives them access to the substance. He noted the number of people with serious medical issues who would benefit, as well as the potential for its use in combating opioid addiction, and the amendment passed on an 8-0 vote." [‘Stay of Prosecution’ issued BIA’s rejection of Ordinance 95 Amendment appealed by Tribe]

larry kurtz said...

Legal cannabis in Montana is more likely to come from a ballot initiative than from the Republican-heavy legislature. "Sen. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, said Senate Joint Resolution 11 did not advocate the legalization of marijuana, but would let Montana lawmakers get ahead of the issue rather than reacting. The study is to include representatives of the Department of Public Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice, the Department of Revenue, the Department of Agriculture, federal and local law enforcement agencies, Indian tribes, the district court system, schools, and state or local groups that work on topics related to drug use and to legalization of marijuana." [Great Falls Tribune