Montana Prepares Its Adult-Use Cannabis Market: Week in Review

While Arizona moved quickly to begin licensing adult-use cannabis businesses in the wake of voters’ approval last fall, other states that flipped in the 2020 General Election are just now getting around to passing their legislative follow-through. Montana is one of them.

The states’ Republicans have led an effort to implement the adult-use measure—and amend it along the way, irking their Democrat counterparts.

A trio of cannabis bills made their way through the Montana House this week, with upcoming Senate votes on the way.

It’s a reminder that the ballot is never the last stop for cannabis reform. As a proposal becomes a bill, which becomes a law, many stakeholders will have their say,

We’ve rounded up some of the key cannabis headlines from the week right here.

The Montana House advanced three competing bills on regulating recreational cannabis in the state after Montana voters approved a measure to legalize adult-use cannabis last year. Read more This summer, Virginia is poised to make history as the first Southern state in America to legalize cannabis. But questions remain about the new laws governing the incoming industry. Read more Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s adult-use cannabis bill is far from the finish line, but the criminal justice aspect of the legislation was vetted and approved by the Joint Judiciary Committee in a 22-16 vote April 6. Read more 
What Purple Heart Patient Center owner Keith Stephenson was setting out to achieve in 2006 is similar to what he’s hoping to deliver to the Oakland cannabis industry when he returns in a few months. Read more 
In Rhode Island, Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center in Portsmouth dispensary workers to unionize with United Food and Commercial Workers. Read more 

And elsewhere on the web, here are the stories we’ve been reading this week:

Raleigh News & Observer: “Democrats in the North Carolina General Assembly have made it clear they want to change the state’s marijuana laws, and they’re giving the legislature’s Republican majority several ideas on how to do so.” Read more Bloomberg: “Mexico’s proposal to legalize cannabis has hit a snag in the Senate, where a revised version of the bill is under consideration.” Read more New York Post: “Canada’s Canopy Growth said Thursday it will buy rival Supreme Cannabis for C$323.3 million ($256.85 million), as the world’s biggest cannabis producer bolsters its portfolio to tap surging demand.” Read more KRQE: “Recreational marijuana could soon be a booming industry in New Mexico. Northern New Mexico College is getting in the game early by launching a new class.” Read more Phoenix New Times: “Not only is local competition getting hotter in Arizona, but a new surge of out-of-state businesses is rushing into the state, looking to take advantage of the massive growth expected in Arizona's post-legalization cannabis industry.” Read more ]]>