Two Controversial Marijuana Bills In Montana Appear To Be Dead For The Session

Two controversial cannabis bills in Montana appear to be dead for the session—one that would have set a 15 percent THC limit on all marijuana products and another that would have required adults to obtain a $200 license each year to legally use recreational cannabis.

The THC cap bill was initially tabled Saturday in committee on an 11–1 vote. An effort on the Senate floor later in the day to revive the measure and move it to a different committee failed on a 23–27 vote.

If approved, that bill—SB 433, from Sen. Greg Hertz (R)—would have set a 15 percent limit on total THC in all non-medical marijuana products. It would also clarify that “total THC” includes multiple forms of THC, including delta-9 THC, THC-A and THCP.

Under Montana state law, marijuana flower is capped at 35 percent THC, though other products in the state don’t have potency limits. Flower in most state adult-use markets typically contains between about 10 percent and 30 percent THC.

Another measure from Hertz, SB 255, was set for a committee hearing last week but appears to have been withdrawn from consideration. In response to an inquiry from Marijuana Moment at the time, Hertz replied simply: “SB 255 hearing was canceled.” He has not responded to multiple follow-up messages since then.

That proposal would have required adults to obtain a $200 license every year to legally use recreational marijuana. Montana voters approved adult-use legalization in 2020. Adults would pay the fee each year to the state Cannabis Control Division, which would enroll them in the program and issue ID cards.

Upon applying for the card, there would be a 60-day period where adults could access marijuana from licensed retailers. But if they don’t pay the fee by the end of that window, the division “shall cancel the temporary marijuana identification card.”

The text of SB 255 said that a “marijuana cardholder shall keep the individual’s marijuana identification card in the individual’s immediate possession at all times. The marijuana identification card and a valid photo identification must be displayed on demand of a law enforcement officer, justice of the peace, or city or municipal judge.”

Advocates at groups like Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) and NORML had come out strongly against both bills, encouraging supporters to contact their representatives and oppose the changes.

“Voter outrage rightly killed these bills, which struck at the heart of the initiative 57 percent of Montana voters approved five years ago,” Karen O’Keefe, MPP’s director of state policies, told Marijuana Moment on Tuesday.

O’Keefe described both bills as “part of a Reefer Madness 2.0 that’s attempting to whittle away at cannabis freedoms, and in some cases completely repeal them. ”

“Both of Sen. Hertz’s bills were essentially backdoor repeals,” she said. “One would ban virtually all cannabis products anyone wants to buy, while the other would have re-criminalized cannabis for adults who don’t shell out $200 per year to be tracked by the government. SB 443 would have decimated the legal industry, sending consumers back to the unregulated, underground market.”

In written testimony, MPP had pointed out to lawmakers that no other state has set THC limits as low as SB 443 proposed.

“The lowest limit on flower in any state is 30 percent, while the lowest cap on concentrates (excluding vape cartridges) is 60 percent,” it says. “The majority of states have no cap at all.”

During a hearing last week, Jackson Kajander, a marijuana grower, told lawmakers that it’s taken him years to grow and develop his genetic library of cannabis varieties, which would need to be rebuilt if the 15 percent THC limit becomes law.

“I currently don’t grow any strains that test under 20 percent THC. It would be beyond challenging to suddenly switch my genetic library to 15 percent or lower,” he said, adding: “It typically takes between 12 to 18 months to fully vet a strain before it’s determined to be a keeper.”

When senators asked how long it would take to “draw down” the library and reduce marijuana to under 15 percent THC, Kajander’s brother, Evan Kajander, noted that replacing products could take years.

“There would be no drawing down of the library. The library would be killed, and we would have to start over,” he explained. “There is no way to make a 25 percent potency plant suddenly be 12 [percent], and so we would have to start from scratch.”

NORML, meanwhile, said in written testimony that the THC cap proposal “seeks to fundamentally alter the state’s voter-approved adult-use legalization law.”

“Prohibiting adults from accessing higher-THC products from state-licensed retailers will not eliminate consumers’ demand for them. Rather, it will encourage consumers to seek out higher-THC products from the unregulated market,” NORML said. “It will also move the production of these products exclusively underground. This undermines the primary goal of legalization, which is to provide consumers with safe, above-ground access to lab-tested products of known purity, potency, and quality.”

Several commenters at the time pointed out that the bill included no fiscal analysis, which means lawmakers could overlook revenue losses that might result from the THC cap if it pushes consumers into the illicit market. MPP pointed out in its testimony that Montana took in more than $50 million in tax revenue from legal cannabis in 2023.

Separately, lawmakers are also considering SB 307, from Sen. Tom McGillvray (R). That measure would eliminate marijuana tax revenue currently flowing to fish and wildlife management and public spaces, as well as disbursements to a veteran’s fund and the Montana Board of Crime Control. Instead, more revenue would flow to the state’s general fund as well as the state’s Healing and Ending Addiction through Recovery and Treatment (HEART) Fund.

Earlier this year, a coalition of conservation groups raised concerns about the governor’s office and state lawmakers reallocating the “historic investment” in the outdoors that cannabis revenue represents in Montana.

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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.