HELENA — This week at the Montana Legislature, lawmakers are considering a series of bills that, if passed, would significantly reshape the state’s legal marijuana industry.
(Watch the video to learn more about the marijuana bills under consideration.)
On Thursday morning, the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee held a hearing on Senate Bill 443, sponsored by Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson. It would cap the percentage of THC – the psychoactive compound in marijuana products – at 15%. The current limit for marijuana flower is 35%.
The 15% cap would not apply on sales to medical marijuana cardholders.
Hertz and other supporters argued that “high-potency” products with higher THC levels appear to be linked with more negative health risks – particularly for youth. They said putting in a stricter limit would protect the public.
“This is a very important bill for the people of Montana, and I think we can send a good message across the United States, that everyone needs to start looking at this and paying attention to what's going on,” Hertz said.
But people working in the marijuana industry said SB 443 would be crippling to their businesses. They said the vast majority of products available for sale in Montana now are above the 15% limit, that the risks of those products are being overstated and that this change would drive marijuana users back to the black market or to other states.
“This is something that can't be done overnight,” said Jackson Kajander, a marijuana grower who said all of the strains he grows now test at above 20% THC, and that it would likely take him a year or more to get one ready to sell that would meet the requirement.
“If this bill passes, we will have nothing to sell that meets the 15% THC requirement, and the legal Montana businesses will go out of business,” he added. “7,000 people will lose their jobs.”
Hertz said he would be open to amending the bill to delay the effective date by one year, but that businesses should be able to get in compliance.
The committee also heard Senate Bill 307, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Sen. Tom McGillvray, R-Billings. It wouldn’t change the rules for marijuana sales, but would change how the state tax revenue from those sales is distributed – redirecting money from several wildlife and recreation programs to fund substance abuse prevention and treatment and marijuana enforcement.
Leanna Troesh, with the organization SafeMontana, said SB 307 would be an important companion to SB 433, and would provide resources to tackle the black market.
“With the potency cap, what we're seeing to be successful in other states like Vermont, is that when you put the potency cap in place, you need to couple that with prevention and enforcement, and that is what this bill is doing,” she said.
Supporters of SB 307 argued there are other options for funding the conservation programs – which include wildlife habitat projects, state park maintenance and trail improvements – and that the money from marijuana taxes should be used for things directly related to marijuana. Opponents said it would be a mistake to remove consistent funding sources from the conservation programs, and that lawmakers shouldn’t be making it an issue of choosing one or the other.
“Rather than saying, you know, prevention and these things are important – they're so important we'll take the money out of the rest of this, we want to rob it from something that's also incredibly important to our constituents and our communities,” said Tom Jacobson, representing the Montana Wildlife Federation.
These weren’t the only marijuana-related proposals getting hearings this week. On Wednesday, the House Business and Labor Committee heard House Bill 636, from Rep. Jodee Etchart, R-Billings, which would limit the TCH content of marijuana edibles and prevent dispensaries from selling edibles “in shapes or packages that are attractive to children or that are easily confused with common dessert-like products, including but not limited to brownies, cakes, cookies, and cupcakes.”
The Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee held a hearing Wednesday on Senate Bill 375, from Sen. Mark Noland, R-Bigfork, which would prohibit the sale of edible products containing hemp.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to clarify that SB 443's THC limit would not apply to marijuana products sold to medical cardholders.
