Montana Legislature considers recreational marijuana bills

February 25, 2021
AggregatedNews
Montana
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Montana lawmakers are considering a range of bills that would make changes to I-190, the citizen-led initiative approved by voters in November that OK’d recreational marijuana in Montana.

The bills cover a variety of topics, like how and where marijuana can be grown, when dispensaries can apply for recreational licenses and if and how dispensaries can advertise their products.

The bill that is farthest along is House Bill 249, which would allow recreational dispensaries to do limited online advertising, with restrictions like not depicting the actual consumption of marijuana and not using cartoons or other imagery that targets kids and teens.

Under I-190, no advertising for marijuana is permitted, though dispensaries are able to be listed on business directories.

Rep. Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, sponsored the bill. He has said the bill is intended to drive people to the legal recreational marijuana market as opposed to the illegal marijuana market. The bill isn’t about how people voted on I-190, but how recreational marijuana businesses can reach customers, Regier said.

“All this bill does is give the legal license holders to recreational marijuana the small, discreet avenue of a website or a web app to advertise their products,” Regier said in a later House floor session held Feb. 9. “It is targeted marketing, it is not in the public’s eye, and it will help out with the fight against the illicit market.” [Read more at Bozeman Daily Chronicle]

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