Montana Passes Bill to Allow Tribal Cannabis Agreements

The Montana Legislature has passed a bill allowing the state’s tribal nations and the governor’s office to establish compacts to legalize and regulate cannabis on a per-reservation basis. Montana lawmakers have passed a bill to allow the state’s tribal nations and the governor’s office to establish compacts to legalize and regulate cannabis on individual reservations, the Montana Free Press reports.

Montana’s cannabis legalization law created issues for tribal cannabis operations, including limited licensing opportunities, limited license types, and heavy restrictions on where and how the tribes could establish dispensaries. The tribal compacts bill, sponsored by state Rep. Frank Smith (D), would address these issues by allowing tribal and state government officials to negotiate on tax issues, production caps, and more.

Patrick Yawakie, co-founder of Red Medicine, LLC, said in the report that the cannabis compacts would be similar to the tribal gaming compacts already in place. The proposal, House Bill 952, was passed earlier this month with support from most Democratic lawmakers and enough of the Republicans, who hold the majority in the Legislature.

Proponents of the compacts say they will give reservations the freedom to either attempt to mitigate the use of cannabis or use it as an opportunity to promote economic growth, while opponents argue the change is unnecessary.