The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many aspects of our lives, including our democratic institutions and processes. Traditional methods of gathering voter signatures for ballot petitions are unsafe, and as a result, ballot initiative campaigns have been forced to search for alternative ways to meet petition gathering requirements without jeopardizing public health. New Approach Montana, which is working to put two marijuana legalization initiatives on the November ballot, recently filed a lawsuit seeking…

Secretary of State and Attorney General must review the proposed initiatives before signature collecting can begin New Approach Montana, a statewide political campaign working to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana, today submitted two complementary 2020 ballot initiatives to the state government for review. The first is a statutory initiative that would legalize marijuana in Montana for adults aged 21 and over and establish a regulatory framework for cultivation and sales. The second is a constitutional…

In an important new development in Montana, District Court Judge James Reynolds ruled Wednesday that medical marijuana providers may serve more than three patients starting immediately. This is welcome news to over 11,000 patients who may now re-establish critical access to medical marijuana. Without the ruling, severe limitations for patients would not have been removed until July of 2017. Following today’s decision, there is no need for delay. Voters in Montana adopted I-182 in November, undoing…

Yesterday, 55% of Montana voters approved a compassionate medical marijuana ballot measure — I-182. The vote is welcome relief to over 11,000 patients who were left without reasonable access. This is the second time Montana’s voters moved marijuana policy forward. In 2004, Montana became the tenth state to adopt a medical marijuana measure. In 2011, lawmakers replaced it with an intentionally unworkable system. Thankfully, voters yesterday weighed in and restored patients’ medical cannabis access. This…

The state of Montana's nearly 12-year history with medical marijuana takes a turn for the worse on September 1, when most medical marijuana patients are expected lose legal access. After years of court challenges which delayed implementation, most of the state’s 2011 law will be in effect, severely limiting the number of people available to provide medical marijuana to patients. Under the newly-enforced law, providers may only serve three patients — a change that state agency officials estimate…

Last week, the House Human Services Committee, ignoring the will of the people, took the imperfect S.B. 423 and made it completely unworkable. Committee Chairman Dave Howard called medical marijuana a “scourge” and tried to get the bill as close to repeal as possible. We expect a full House vote as early as Monday, April 11. So what exactly is going on in Montana? First, there was the initial push for repeal with H.B. 161. That bill stalled in the Senate, but was immediately followed by a rash of…

Last week, the Montana House passed H.B. 161, a bill that would repeal the medical marijuana initiative passed by voters in 2004, in a preliminary vote that fell along party lines. This week, in preparation for the final House vote, the prohibitionists have switched their arguments from baseless fear mongering to "fiscal responsibility." Yesterday, the main supporter of the bill argued that repeal of the medical marijuana law would cost the state money at first, but that it would save money in the…