Montana sends voter-approved cannabis on a detour

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The state’s governor still doesn’t want to move forward with voter-approved cannabis measures

In his annual ‘State of the State’ address recently, Governor Greg Gianforte proposed, or announced, that “tax dollars that come once Montana’s cannabis legalization measure is finally implemented should be used to fight what he describes as a “misuse of meth,” which, according to Gianforte, has “overstrained the state’s child services, treatment programs and criminal justice system.” While he is more accepting of voter-approved cannabis measures in the state, he seems to be willing to redirect how money is spent.

The issue at hand here is money and how much of the upcoming revenue from marijuana taxing is going where. They are fighting over money that has not even started to materialize as yet. No explanation is given as to why legal cannabis sales have not already begun in Montana. 

Montana voters approved the legalization of adult-use cannabis on the November 3 ballot. A lot has happened since then, but the state of Montana has not figured out how to handle legalization so that it actually works and that the money, via tax and license revenues, starts to flow into the state coffers. Then they can start to decide how to divide it up within the state. 

Economists have projected that Montana stands to bring in $52 million annually in cannabis tax dollars once the system is up and running. The November ballot measure called for half of that revenue ‘to fund environmental conservation programs.’ But that’s not what the Governor has in mind, so they are stuck. Meanwhile, neighboring states are bringing in marijuana tax money and watching their pesky budget problems disappear.