Happy New Year! The beginning of 2022 officially marks a major milestone in the decades-long effort to reform Montana’s cannabis policies. As of January 1, adults in Montana can now purchase cannabis from licensed retail stores across the state!
Thanks to the efforts of New Approach Montana, the 2020 ballot initiative campaign supported and led by MPP, 57% of Montana voters approved two complementary ballot initiatives to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis in the state. As a result, cannabis sales will no longer be relegated to an illicit market. Instead, we have created a legal marketplace that will improve public health and safety, create new jobs, and generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for Montana. Today is a day to celebrate what our movement can achieve when we mobilize popular support for sensible reforms.
For now, adults in Montana may purchase cannabis in stores located in so-called “green counties” — where a majority of voters approved Initiative 190. Other counties will require approval via local referendum to allow adult-use cannabis sales. You can view a map of which counties currently allow sales here.
If you plan to stop by a cannabis store, bring your ID to show that you are 21 or older — and when transporting cannabis, keep your package unopened and stored in the glove compartment or trunk of your car.
Celebrate responsibly, Montana!
- Take Action: Urge your state legislators to support a compassionate medical cannabis program!
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Adults can now purchase cannabis in Montana!
Montana governor signs law to implement cannabis legalization
Yesterday, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 701, setting in motion a plan to begin legal marijuana sales in January 2022.
Cannabis policy reform advocates successfully fended off a series of last-minute attempts to make significant changes that would have undermined Initiative 190, the law voters approved last year by a 14-point margin. After a dramatic series of back-and-forths, state lawmakers agreed on a bill that makes some modifications to the ballot measure but keeps most of the original language intact. Click here to read a comprehensive summary of the legislation.
Pepper Petersen, political director for the New Approach Montana campaign in 2020, heralded passage of the legislation as a victory for Montana’s cannabis community:
“The Montana Cannabis Guild was in the trenches fighting for the little guys during the 2021 Montana legislative session. Mom and Pop dispensaries are the backbone of cannabis in Montana, and we made sure the laws we passed here this year would keep their interests paramount.”
The Marijuana Policy Project played a leading role in the 2020 ballot initiative campaign to legalize marijuana in Montana, helping to pass CI-118 and I-190 with 57% and 58% of the vote, respectively. Our team is proud to have helped end the failed policy of marijuana prohibition in Montana.
Moments like these are a reminder of why MPP’s work is so important. If you support our efforts to legalize marijuana in other states and at the federal level, please consider making a contribution to help us educate more voters about sensible marijuana policies.
University of Montana study: Legalizing marijuana will generate $236 million by 2026
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Montana’s complementary legalization measures are officially on the ballot!
Great news! Earlier today, the Montana Secretary of State announced that CI-118 and I-190, the two initiatives supported by New Approach Montana to legalize marijuana for adults, received enough signatures to appear on the ballot this fall.
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When the pandemic hit earlier this year, some feared it would mean the end of this campaign. But the team persevered and overcame tremendous obstacles. Voters will now have the opportunity to enact a marijuana legalization policy that will create jobs, generate revenue, and allow law enforcement to focus on real crime.
Unfortunately, due to the challenges faced during the signature drive that significantly drove up costs, the campaign is behind in its fundraising goals.
We need to make sure our friends at New Approach Montana have enough resources to compete with an onslaught of negative messaging from opponents. Will you make a contribution right now to make sure the campaign has the resources it needs to win?
You can also help by talking with friends and family about the importance of passing both initiatives, following New Approach Montana on Facebook, and signing up to volunteer!
Election Day is less than 12 weeks away, and early voting starts soon. Be part of this important effort to overturn the failed policy of marijuana prohibition in Montana.
Montana legalization measures will qualify for the ballot
On Friday, July 17, we got an exciting update out of Big Sky Country: according to numbers tallied by local officials, BOTH legalization initiatives have received enough signatures to qualify for the statewide ballot this fall!
That’s really good news. But leaders of the campaign are nervous about the potential emergence of a well-financed opposition effort assisted by groups like SAM.
Winning in Montana is not going to be easy, and due to the challenges the campaign faced in the signature drive, they were forced to spend far more than they planned. And now, they’re behind their fundraising goals.
Will you help give New Approach Montana the resources they need to continue building support for legalization and defeat the prohibitionists this fall? Any amount you can give will make a difference.
Donate directly to the Montana 2020 legalization campaign:
A victory in Montana will not only help Montanans. It will also give our movement a huge boost of momentum as we continue to build pressure on Congress to pass a federal legalization law.
Now’s a critical time to throw your support behind this important campaign.
Montana campaign submits signatures for November legalization ballot initiatives
Last Friday, New Approach Montana, a Helena-based marijuana reform campaign, submitted over 130,000 signatures from counties across the state in order to qualify two complementary marijuana legalization initiatives for the November 2020 ballot. Despite the severe impact of COVID-19, the campaign was able to reach its goals in time for the signature submission deadline.
The campaign submitted over 52,000 signatures in support of I-190, a statutory initiative that would legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana in Montana, and over 80,000 signatures in support of CI-118, a constitutional initiative that would set the legal minimum age for purchasing, consuming, or possessing marijuana at 21. Those numbers far exceed the minimum requirements of 25,468 and 50,936, respectively.
The Governor’s Budget Office estimates that marijuana tax revenue will reach $48 million per year by 2025 under New Approach Montana’s plan to legalize and tax adult use marijuana at 20%.
Stay tuned for further developments, and visit the campaign's website for more information.
Montana campaign in a race against time to qualify constitutional legalization initiative for November ballot
Because COVID-19 caused major delays in the signature-gathering drive, New Approach Montana — the campaign working to pass two complementary ballot initiatives to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana for adults 21 and older in Montana — is in a race against time to qualify the constitutional initiative for the November ballot!
The constitutional measure (CI 118), which would allow the minimum legal age for marijuana to be set at 21, needs just over 50,000 valid signatures to qualify. The statutory measure (SI 190), which would establish a system to regulate and tax marijuana for adults’ use and requires half the number of signatures as required for the constitutional initiative, already has enough signatures to qualify.
While the statutory measure is the actual legalization policy, the constitutional measure sets the legal age at 21. Since voters prefer 21 as the minimum legal age, the campaign must qualify both measures to maximize the chances of victory this November. If CI 118 does not pass, it is very likely that marijuana sales would be delayed by two years.
Due to signature-gathering challenges caused by the pandemic, the campaign has made it easy to add your signature to the petition effort. If you are a Montana voter, you can download this four-page document, print, sign, and mail it in to the campaign.
The campaign also has petition circulators on the ground, who are following strict health and safety protocols to reduce the risk of spreading COVID.
MPP staff member and Montana resident Chris Lindsey (right) helping gather signatures.
Please help us spread the word by sharing this petition link with friends and family in Montana today!
Montana: Have you signed yet?
Sign your petitions from home to ensure legalization is on the November ballot!
New Approach Montana is pulling out all the stops to get the signatures it needs to qualify adult-use legalization for Montana’s November ballot.
Despite getting a late start due to the health crisis sweeping the nation, the campaign launched its signature drive on May 9, instituting a comprehensive set of public health protocols to limit contact between circulators and petition signers. And, earlier this week, the campaign released a new website that allows Montana voters to sign petition documents from home! Follow the link below to download and print using your printer or to request that the campaign mail your petitions.
The campaign’s new website allows Montana residents to choose between two options to sign petition documents remotely. Voters can request a mailed packet that includes instructions, printed petition documents to sign, and a pre-addressed, pre-paid envelope to return the signed documents to the campaign. The other option allows voters to print the documents at home, sign, and return them by mail.
It has never been easier to sign a ballot initiative petition in Montana. If you have any questions, just email the campaign at info@newapproachmt.org. And of course, if you prefer to sign in person, you can find a map of signing locations here.
Every signature counts, and we’re asking all Montanans to take just a few minutes to print and sign these petitions. Please also spread the word about this unique petition-signing opportunity to your friends, family, and neighbors around the state. Just a few signatures could determine the fate of ending marijuana prohibition in Montana this year.
Thank you in advance for assisting this important campaign.
For the first time, Montana voters can sign initiative petitions from home
On account of the COVID-19 pandemic, many campaigns have had to throw in the towel on qualifying state initiatives for the ballot this election cycle — but not New Approach Montana. Instead, the campaign, which MPP is helping to lead, has come up with innovative approaches for collecting signatures as it races against a deadline to qualify for the 2020 ballot.
This includes a new opportunity for Montana voters: signing the petitions from home. Use the link below to download and print using your printer or to request that the campaign mail your petitions.
The campaign’s new website allows Montana residents to choose between two options to sign petition documents remotely. Voters can request a mailed packet that includes instructions, printed petition documents to sign, and a pre-addressed, pre-paid envelope to return the signed documents to the campaign. The other option allows voters to print the documents at home, sign, and return them by mail. It has never been easier to sign a ballot initiative petition in Montana. If you have any questions, just email the campaign at info@newapproachmt.org.
But New Approach Montana needs your help to spread the word. We're requesting that you forward this email to anyone you know in Montana. Given the delay to the start of the signature drive, each signature could be the difference between qualification or failure.
Thank you in advance for assisting this important campaign.
Montana signature drive in support of marijuana legalization ballot initiatives to begin Saturday
New Approach Montana, the political campaign working to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana in the state, announced the launch of a statewide signature drive starting this Saturday in support of two complementary marijuana legalization ballot initiatives.
“The ballot initiative process is an integral component of democracy for half of all the states,” said Matthew Schweich, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project, which is supporting the campaign. “Campaigns across the country did the responsible thing by delaying and pausing signature drives earlier this year. But the economy is reopening, and now we have the opportunity to responsibly resume our efforts and give voters the opportunity to make important policy decisions at the ballot box this November,” Schweich continued.
The campaign is instituting a set of public health protocols to limit contact between circulators and petition signers, including wearing masks, providing single-use pens and gloves, supplying disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer, and maintaining the six-foot distance requirement, among other measures. Joan Miles, a public health professional who served as the director of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services under former Gov. Brian Schweitzer, reviewed the protocols and endorsed the campaign’s plan.
New Approach Montana is supporting two ballot initiatives this year. The first, I-190, is a statutory initiative that would legalize marijuana in Montana for adults and establish a regulatory framework for cultivation and sales. The second, CI-118, is a constitutional initiative that would set the legal minimum age for purchasing, consuming, or possessing marijuana at 21.
To qualify for the November 2020 ballot, the campaign must gather 25,468 signatures for I-190 and 50,936 signatures for CI-118. Under state law, all signatures must be submitted to county clerks by June 19.