THE LOOMING VOTE ON RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA IN MONTANA: Is the Cost Greater Than the Benefit?

• Author: Sonora, Robert
• Position: TRENDING

This November, Montanans will have the opportunity to vote on whether or not to legalize recreational marijuana. There are two items are on the ballot this election season. The first is CI-118, which amends the Montana Constitution to include language to establish the legal age for owning, consuming, and/or possessing marijuana; making it the same as for alcohol. The second ballot initiative is the Marijuana Legalization and Tax Initiative (1-190), which legalizes marijuana for consumption and possession of marijuana for adults over the age of 21.

If these ballot measures pass, Montana would join 11 states and the District of Columbia that have already legalized recreational marijuana. The list of other states wishing to fully legalize includes Arizona, New Jersey and South Dakota. South Dakota has two ballot measures: one to legalize medical and one to fully legalize recreational marijuana. Should the latter initiative pass, South Dakota will be the first state to move from fully illegal to fully legal, as it is not yet decriminalized. A further three states have medicinal cannabis on the ballot this year. Eight states have yet to decriminalize the legal use of marijuana for any purpose, including medicinal. In Oregon, there is a ballot initiative decriminalizes all drugs.

Montana is one of more than 30 states with legal medical marijuana, which became legal in 2004, when measure the Montana Medical Marijuana Act (1-148) passed. Itwas later amended in 2011 (SB 423) and 2016 (1-182). Currently, there are roughly 40,000 Montana residents with medical marijuana cards. These users consume roughly $18 million worth of cannabis products annually generating $400,000 in tax revenues.

Changing Attitudes

According to a poll by the Pew Research Center, public attitudes toward marijuana legalization have changed dramatically since the turn of the century. In 2000, approximately 63% of surveyed Americans believed recreational marijuana should be illegal. By 2019, the most recent poll, that percentage had flipped. Now, about 67% of Americans believe cannabis should be legal.

In Montana, a 2017 survey conducted by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services found that less than half of Montanans believed recreational marijuana should be legal for adults. However, the University of Montana's spring 2020 Big Sky Survey found that 54% believed that recreational marijuana should be legal, compared to 37% who did not.

While the positive...