HELENA — Montana voters will decide in November whether to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, for adults 21 and older.
New Approach Montana, the group formed to back ballot measures to legalize marijuana, said Thursday that two complementary measures to achieve that goal have qualified for the Nov. 3 ballot: Initiative 190 and Constitutional Initiative 118.
“Our research has always shown that a majority of Montanans support legalization, and now voters will have the opportunity to enact that policy, which will create jobs and generate new revenue for our state,” said Pepper Petersen, campaign spokesman for the group.
New Approach Montana already has spent nearly $2 million on the signature drive and related expenses of getting the two measures on the Nov. 3 ballot. It said they collected more than 130,000 signatures of registered voters.
The initiative needed about 25,000 verified signatures to qualify and the constitutional amendment needed about 50,000 signatures.
I-190, if approved by voters, would legalize the sale and possession of limited amounts of marijuana and also levy a 20 percent tax on the sale of non-medical marijuana in Montana.
CI-118 would amend the state constitution to allow the Legislature to set the age of for adults allowed to possess and consume marijuana. Under the current state constitution, anyone 18 or older has all rights of an adult, except for the possession of alcohol.
New Approach has said legal marijuana sales would generate $48 million in tax revenue for Montana by 2025.
