Helena, MT: Opponents of legislation imposing a 15 percent THC potency cap on adult-use marijuana products made their voices heard at a legislative hearing last week before members of the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs committee.
Opponents of the bill, Senate Bill 443, outnumbered proponents by a margin of more than two to one. Many witnesses represented state-licensed cannabis businesses, who argued that passage of the measure would recriminalize most of their products. Others argued that the bill sought to unreasonably undermine the state’s marijuana legalization law, which was approved by 57 percent of voters.
NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano provided testimony against the bill, stating: “Prohibiting adults from accessing products with more than 15 percent THC from state-licensed retailers will not eliminate consumers’ demand for them. Rather, it will encourage consumers to seek out these products in the unregulated market. It will also move the production of these products exclusively underground – thereby undermining the primary goal of legalization, which is to provide adults with safe, affordable, above-ground access to lab-tested products of known purity, potency, and quality.”
Some witnesses also pushed back against language in the bill equating the availability of higher-THC products with slavery.
In 2021, lawmakers approved legislation imposing a 35 percent THC potency limit on botanical products. They also capped the amount of THC permissible in edible products and concentrates. Montana is one of the only states in the nation to impose limits on the THC content of legally regulated cannabis products.
Following the hearing, committee members moved to table the bill – thereby suspending it from further consideration. A motion to reconsider the bill also failed.
Separate legislation, Senate Bill 255, establishing a mandatory registry for cannabis consumers and tracking their purchases was also scheduled to be debated last week, but it was never brought before the committee.
A state-by-state guide to pending marijuana legislation is available from NORML’s Take Action Center.