MCG Press Clips 10.2.24
NEWSLETTERS
Congressional Dems push cannabis rescheduling ASAP (Newsletter: October 2, 2024) - Marijuana Moment
Cannabis Control Division October Newsletter - Montana Department of Revenue (mtrevenue.gov)
Cannabis : Law360 : Legal News & Analysis
ARTICLES
Is Cannabis Legal in Montana?
By Lee Johnson
October 1, 2024
Montana Cannabis Laws & Penalties in 2024 (cbdoracle.com)
Weed has been legal in Montana since January 2021, so any adults aged 21 or over in the state can legally possess up to 1 ounce (28.35 g) of marijuana. Adults can also grow up to two mature plants and two seedlings.
Montana weed laws also permit medical marijuana, where patients have the same possession limit but can grow a larger number of plants to meet their needs.
While weed is completely legal in Montana, there are some rules and regulations that it’s good to know if you’re going to consume in the state.
Is Cannabis Legal in Montana?
Weed is legal in Montana for both recreational and medical use. Any adult (21+) in the state can possess, transfer, and purchase up to 1 ounce (28.35 g) of marijuana.
Is Recreational Cannabis Legal in Montana?
Montana legalized recreational weed use in January 2021, after voters passed Initiative 190 in November 2020.
State lawmakers then passed HB 701, essentially putting the rules from the initiative into state law. The bill makes it legal (page 52, Section 41: 16-12-106(1)(a)) for any person aged 21 or over to possess up to 1 ounce (28.35 g) of usable marijuana, with a maximum of 8 g of this as a concentrate and up to 800 mg of THC in edibles.
You can also grow up to 2 mature and 2 immature plants, and possess all of the excess cannabis produced by them, provided it’s in a locked container that isn’t visible to the public.
Penalties for Possession of Excess Cannabis
Possessing more weed than the legally permitted amount does carry penalties, though.
HB 701 does establish limited civil penalties for possession of up to 2 ounces, but beyond that, the system reverts to a more criminalized one.
· For possession of between 1 and 2 ounces (and/or between 8 and 16 g of concentrate) for a first offense, the individual has a choice between a $200 (max) fine or up to 4 hours of community service.
· For a second offense with the same limits, the choice is between a fine of up to $300 and 6 hours of community service.
· For a third or subsequent offense, you’ll either be fined up to $500 or get 8 hours of community service.
· For higher amounts of weed, it’s considered a felony and the punishment increases to up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
Is Medical Marijuana Legal in Montana?
Medical marijuana has been legal in Montana since 2004 but ran into some problems in 2011 when lawmakers tried to institute more stringent rules.
This battle came to an end with the passage of the Montana Medical Marijuana Initiative in 2016, which essentially removed the additional restrictions lawmakers had passed in 2011. It was revised by SB 333 in 2017, and this forms the modern version of Montana’s medical marijuana bill.
Patient Possession Limits
Medical marijuana patients in Montana can buy up to one ounce of marijuana per day, and up to 5 ounces in a month (based on a rolling 30-day period).
Medical patients are also permitted to grow up to 4 mature plants and 12 seedlings and possess the cannabis produced from it, provided any excess is kept in a locked and secure container, out of the view of the public.
You can also petition the medical marijuana program to increase your monthly allowance up to 8 ounces if your physician agrees.
How to Get a Medical Marijuana Card in Montana?
The process for getting a Montana medical marijuana card is very similar to that in other states.
First off, you need to receive a diagnosis of a qualifying condition from a licensed physician in Montana.
These qualifying conditions are:
· Cancer
· Glaucoma
· Positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome when the condition or disease results in symptoms that seriously and adversely affect the patient’s health status
· Cachexia or wasting syndrome
· Severe chronic pain that is persistent pain of severe intensity that significantly interferes with daily activities as documented by the patient’s treating physician
· Intractable nausea or vomiting
· Epilepsy or an intractable seizure disorder
· Multiple sclerosis
· Crohn’s disease
· Painful peripheral neuropathy
· A central nervous system disorder resulting in chronic, painful spasticity or muscle spasms
· Admittance into hospice care
· Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
When your physician diagnoses you with one of these conditions and agrees that marijuana is a suitable treatment, he or she can issue a physician statement, which you can use to apply for your card within 60 days.
You then visit the online portal and start your application. You’ll also need proof of Montana residency and a passport-style photo for your card. There is a $20 fee for new applications or renewals and a $10 if you need a replacement card at any point.
Can You Consume Weed in Public?
HB 701 makes it clear (page 57, Section 43: 16-12-108(1)(h)&(i)) that marijuana use in non-smoking locations and public places is not permitted. This is punishable by a civil fine of $50.
Can You Drive Under the Influence?
Driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal in Montana.
However, unlike many states, Montana institutes a limit of 5 ng THC per ml of blood to determine whether you are under the influence of marijuana, analogous to the limits on blood alcohol content.
By driving on the roads in Montana, you’re deemed to have already given your consent for blood or breath tests to determine the amount of drugs or alcohol in your system. If you refuse such a test, they’ll take your license and keep it for 6 months (in the first instance), and the fact you refused will be admissible as evidence in court.
For the DUI itself, the punishments are:
· For a first offense, you’ll be imprisoned for between 24 hours and 6 months and fined between $600 and $1,000.
· For a second offense, the prison sentence increases to between 7 days and 1 year, with fines between $1,200 and $2,000. Your vehicle may also be seized.
· For a third offense, you’ll be imprisoned for between 30 days and 1 year, and the fine increases to between $2,500 and $5,000.
· For a fourth or subsequent offense, the prison sentence increases to between 13 months and two years, and fines can be between $5,000 and $10,000.
Note that all of these punishments increase if any passenger in the vehicle is under 16 years of age.
Is Delta-8 THC Legal in Montana?
Delta-8 THC is not legal in Montana. With the passage of HB 948 in 2023, it is illegal to sell any cannabinoid “produced artificially,” which covers all commercial delta-8 THC products.
Is Weed Decriminalized in Montana?
Weed is legal in Montana, so it’s technically decriminalized, but really the law goes further than this.
There is no punishment at all for possession of up to one ounce, but for between 1 and 2 ounces, there is only a civil penalty. This can be considered decriminalization for up to 2 ounces.
Is Growing Weed Legal in Montana?
Growing weed is totally legal in Montana because along with legalizing possession of up to an ounce of weed, HB 701 also allows for home cultivation (page 53, Section 41: Section 16-12-106(c)).
The law states that any adult may legally grow two seedlings and two mature marijuana plants, and medical marijuana cardholders can have four of each. You can only have twice as many plants in a single household, no matter how many adults or patients are present.
So two or more medical users in one household could have eight seedlings and eight mature plants, but two or more recreational users could only have four of each.
Any plants you grow must be out of public sight, assuming normal, unaided vision, and they should be kept in a locked space.
Additionally, any marijuana produced by the plants beyond your limit should also be locked away. There is a civil fine of $250 for violations of these rules, as well as forfeiture of the offending marijuana.
Conclusion
With an adult-use marijuana law in place and a comprehensive medical program, Montana’s weed laws are among the best in the country.
There may be some limitations for things like delta-8 THC, but overall, you can use marijuana in the state if you’re an adult, even without a medical need. As long as you avoid things like driving under the influence or smoking in a public place, you’re unlikely to find yourself in trouble as a stoner in the state.
Over 600 Americans Are Arrested Daily for Marijuana — Enough Is Enough
by NORML
Posted on October 2, 2024
Over 600 Americans Are Arrested Daily for Marijuana — Enough Is Enough (norml.org)
Six hundred people are still arrested every day in America for marijuana.
At NORML, this is a stark reminder of why we do the work that we do and how much more still needs to be done.
While nearly half of all states have moved to sensibly legalize and regulate cannabis over the past decade, many jurisdictions continue to place marijuana consumers in handcuffs. For example, in Alabama, nearly half of all drug arrests are for marijuana. In Georgia, 40 percent of those arrested for drug violations are charged with violating marijuana laws. In Texas, almost one-third of all drug-related arrests are for minor marijuana violations. In Pennsylvania, 1 in 5 drug arrests are for marijuana.
Nationwide, police made over 220,000 marijuana-related arrests in 2023, according to the FBI’s new Crime in the United States report. Most of those arrested were charged with simple possession. This is a tremendous waste of police resources that ruins lives.
Behind every one of these arrests, there’s a person – a person with a family, a person with a story. At NORML, we never forget that.
That is why we work so hard to make the case that the responsible use of cannabis should not be a crime. Even one marijuana arrest is one too many.
With your help, we are changing things for the better. Marijuana arrests are down nearly 75 percent nationwide from their peak in 2007. And both major-party Presidential candidates have now acknowledged that it’s time to stop arresting Americans for the possession and use of cannabis, a substance that is safer than either tobacco or alcohol.
NORML began its quest to change America’s marijuana laws over five decades ago. We’re now closer than ever to accomplishing this goal. But we need your help. Please give today so that we can continue to fight for legalization and bring an end to the practice of arresting, jailing, and discriminating against responsible cannabis consumers. Together, we will legalize America.
Arkansas Marijuana Activists File Lawsuit After Top Official Says Medical Access Expansion Measure Has ‘Insufficient’ Signatures
By Kyle Jaeger
October 1, 2024
Just one day after Arkansas’s top elections official deemed that a medical marijuana legalization expansion initiative has “insufficient” signatures, the campaign behind that reform proposal has filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court contesting that determination.
Last month, Arkansans for Patient Access (APA) turned in a final batch of petitions for the cannabis measure, with over 150,000 signatures from all of the state’s 75 counties. But Secretary of State John Thurston (R) advised the campaign on Monday that only 88,040 were valid, whereas they needed 90,704.
Now advocates are fighting back, with a suit filed in the Arkansas Supreme Court on Tuesday that seeks an expedited hearing as Election Day approaches.
“The Court should enter a preliminary injunction to require the Secretary of State to count and verify all signatures turned in to the Secretary and to then certify the Amendment to appear on the ballot pending resolution of this action,” the filing says.
“The Court should find that APA has submitted sufficient signatures to qualify the Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024 for the general election ballot and should compel the Secretary to certify the initiative for the ballot,” it says.
A supplementary motion to expedite the case states that the “relief is necessary because early voting commences October 15, and petitioners will suffer irreparable harm unless the Court expedites this action” and orders” Thurston to certify the initiative.
The measure will be on the ballot in any case, as a printing deadline has already passed. The question now is whether the results of the vote will actually be counted after Election Day.
After activists submitted an initial batch of petitions in early August, the state official advised they did not have enough valid signaturs at that time, kicking off a 30-day curing period for the campaign to make up the difference. According to Thurston’s office, they didn’t reach that goal.
The campaign pushed back against the state’s action, emphasizing that advocates “submitted over 150,000 signatures from all seventy-five counties, demonstrating clear support for an amendment that will remove barriers to access and reduce the cost of obtaining and maintaining a medical marijuana patient card.”
“Unfortunately, excluding 20,000 valid signatures collected during the cure period—due to an arbitrary, last-minute clerical rule change—is unfair and contrary to the democratic process,” a campaign spokesperson said in a statement after the secretary of state determined that signatures were insufficient.
The problem for medical cannabis activists is a policy that blocked a separate proposed amendment to legalize abortion from ballot access which says that documents on training for paid canvassers need to be signed by the measure’s sponsor instead of a representative of the company that hired the petition collectors.
The marijuana proposal is principally aimed at building upon the state’s existing medical cannabis program, which was created under an earlier voter-approved measure. It would achieve that by making it so healthcare professionals could issue recommendations to patients for any condition they see fit and letting patients grow their own marijuana at home.
Nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants pharmacists and osteopathic doctors would be added to the list of professionals who could make those recommendations. Also, patients wouldn’t need to renew their medical marijuana cards until three years, versus one year under the current law.
Further, the measure includes a trigger provision that would end cannabis prohibition altogether in Arkansas if the federal government enacts legalization.
The initiative would also permit dispensaries to start selling pre-rolled joints.
A recent survey found that a majority of likely voters in Arkansas are in favor of the initiative to significantly expand the state’s medical marijuana program.
The state’s medical marijuana has proved popular since its implementation in 2019, with officials announcing in May that at least 102,000 residents have registered for patient cards, exceeding expectations.
Meanwhile, last August a law took effect in the state clarifying that medical marijuana patients can obtain concealed carry licenses for firearms.
Arkansas voters defeated a ballot initiative to more broadly legalize marijuana for adults in 2022.
MORE MONTANA NEWS
Fact-checking the Montana Senate debate between Jon Tester and Tim Sheehy
LOUIS JACOBSON Politifact
October 2, 2024
Fact-checking the debate between Jon Tester and Tim Sheehy (billingsgazette.com)
In the final planned debate of their closely watched Senate race, Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and Republican challenger Tim Sheehy sparred over major campaign topics, including abortion, immigration and the economy.
The Sept. 30 debate, sponsored by PBS Montana and held audience-free in Missoula, turned sometimes testy, with Sheehy tying Tester to the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policies and Tester casting Sheehy’s opposition to abortion as out of the mainstream.
The Montana Senate race is one of a half-dozen tight contests across the country in which Democrats are defending seats they need to keep their one-seat majority. PolitiFact is partnering with Scripps TV stations and Lee Enterprises newspapers in Montana to fact-check the campaign.
Both candidates made inaccurate statements. Here’s a fact-check of notable debate claims.
Abortion
Sheehy: "Jon Tester supports abortion up to and including a moment of birth."
False. Tester’s support for the Women’s Health Protection Act does not mean he supports elective abortions all the way through a nine-month pregnancy. The law is more limited; it allows for medical judgment in rare cases involving life-threatening risks to the fetus or the pregnant woman.
Tester: Sheehy has said "he doesn't even believe the ballot issue (on abortion in Montana) should be on the ballot."
He’s close. In a July campaign stop, Sheehy described the ballot measure that would enshrine abortion protections as "trying to legalize abortion completely, 100 percent across the board," the Daily Montanan reported. "Those petitions are not good for Montana."
Tester: Sheehy "has called abortion terrible and murder."
True. Sheehy said of abortion in December, "I think it's sinful. I think it's terrible. I think it's a repulsive thing to do."
Sheehy told a conservative talk radio show in April, "It’s really frustrating how, you know, we have one party in this country that seems to be bent on murdering our unborn children and taking that, taking that tack, you know, in a very militant way."
Immigration
Sheehy: "We've had 12 million people enter this country, by some accounts, in the last three to three and a half years."
Encounters are not the same as entries. Since Joe Biden became president, immigration officials have encountered immigrants illegally crossing the U.S. border around 10 million times. When accounting for "got aways" — people whom border officials don’t stop — the number rises to about 11.6 million.
But encounters aren’t the same as admissions. Encounters represent events, so one person who tries to cross the border twice counts as two encounters. Also, not everyone encountered is let into the country. The Department of Homeland Security estimates about 4 million encounters have led to expulsions or removals.
During Biden’s administration, about 3.8 million people have been released into the U.S. to await immigration court hearings, Department of Homeland Security data shows.
Sheehy: "We had a secure border four years ago. Donald Trump handed a sealed border to the Biden-Harris administration."
Mostly False. Illegal immigration during former President Donald Trump’s administration was higher than it was during both of former President Barack Obama’s terms.
Illegal immigration between ports of entry at the U.S. southern border dropped in 2017, Trump’s first year in office. But illegal immigration began to rise after that. It dropped again when the COVID-19 pandemic started and immigration decreased dramatically worldwide.
In the months before Trump left office, as some pandemic travel restrictions eased, illegal immigration was rising again. A spike in migrants, especially unaccompanied minors, started in spring 2020 and generally continued to climb.
It’s difficult to compare pre-COVID-19 data with data since, because data reporting methods changed. But, accounting for challenges in data comparisons, a PolitiFact review found an increase of 300% in illegal immigration from Trump’s first full month in office, February 2017, to his last full month, December 2020.
Health care
Tester: "Tim wants to purely privatize health care, not just privatize it, but purely privatize health care. That means Medicare, which is a government program, would go away."
Mostly False. Sheehy did use the term "pure privatization" when discussing the U.S. health care system during an August 2023 event. But he did not say he intended to get rid of Medicare.
Sheehy’s ad-libbed quote conflicts with his officially stated approach to health care policy, which is summarized on his campaign website and in an op-ed. In general, Sheehy has criticized the Affordable Care Act but offered few specifics for how he’d change it. But the Sheehy campaign said he does not support eliminating Medicare.
Sheehy: Tester has "continually advocated" for "taking us to a single-payer system for health care.
This overstates Tester’s support. The closest Tester came to arguing the government should handle health insurance was in 2017, when he said Congress should take a "solid look" at a single-payer health care system.
However, he is not a co-sponsor of the current version of the Medicare for All Act, sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and he has previously voted against or declined to sponsor similar legislation that would make the government the sole primary insurer for all Americans.
Tester: "I was the only one in the (Montana) delegation to vote for" the Inflation Reduction Act, which enabled the federal government to negotiate prices with drugmakers and capped insulin at $35 for Medicare beneficiaries.
True. The state’s other senator, Republican Steve Daines, voted against the measure. The state’s single House member at the time, Republican Matt Rosendale, also voted against it.
Economy
Sheehy: During the COVID-19 pandemic, timber was "quadrupling in price."
Prices are back at pre-pandemic levels. The price of lumber and wood products increased dramatically during the pandemic. The U.S. Forest Service blamed both supply constraints (including a worker shortage, damaged supply chains and a lack of truckers) and soaring demand for home improvements. However, the market for lumber settled down in late 2022, and current prices are roughly in line with what they were prepandemic, official federal data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.
Public lands
Tester: Sheehy was "on the board of an organization that wants to privatize our public lands."
The group’s current position isn’t clear. The Property and Environment Research Center, a group specializing in free-market approaches to the environment, reported in its 2022 IRS Form 990 that Sheehy served as an uncompensated member of its board of directors, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported in June. And web archives of the group’s website listed him as a board member.
In 1999, the group’s former executive director wrote that he wanted to auction off "all public lands over 20 to 40 years," the Daily Chronicle reported. And in 2016, the group urged each national park to be run as a stand-alone business, Outside Magazine reported.
Kat Dwyer, a center spokesperson, told the Daily Chronicle that these stances were old and written by people no longer affiliated with the group.
Today, the group’s website says it "explores innovative ways to better fund public lands, such as user fees that are retained for maintenance and operational needs or other ‘pay-to-play’ funding mechanisms similar to the successful model used by hunters and anglers to fund wildlife conservation."
Campaign finance
Sheehy: Tester is the "No. 1 recipient of lobbyist cash in the whole country."
True for this campaign cycle. Tester received $489,440 from lobbyists, a figure that rises to $502,591 when lobbyists’ family members’ contributions are included, according to the nonpartisan campaign-finance tracking group OpenSecrets.org.
That ranks as the most out of any member of Congress in the 2024 election cycle to date.
In Montana Senate race, Tim Sheehy airs inaccurate illegal immigration attack on Jon Tester | Fact Check
LOUIS JACOBSON Politifact
Oct 1, 2024
Sheehy airs inaccurate illegal immigration attack on Tester (billingsgazette.com)
Montana Republican Tim Sheehy is attacking his U.S. Senate race opponent, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, over illegal immigration, echoing claims that other Republicans have used against incumbent Democrats this year.
A September ad that was jointly sponsored by Sheehy and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, includes a video clip of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, saying, "Yeah, I am radical," then tries to tie Tester to her.
One position the ad says Tester shares with Harris is that "Jon Tester voted to give taxpayer-funded health care to illegal immigrants." (We previously rated the claim that Harris "endorsed free taxpayer-funded government health care for all illegal aliens" Mostly False.)
The ad’s claim refers to a vote Tester cast in 2013, but it exaggerates the vote’s effect.
Sheehy’s campaign confirmed that the ad’s assertion was based on the 2013 vote.
The 2013 vote was part of political tactic that both parties use
On March 23, 2013, Tester voted to reject a budget bill amendment from then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., that would have established "a deficit-reduction reserve fund to achieve savings by prohibiting illegal immigrants granted legal status from qualifying for federally subsidized health care." The Republican amendment failed, mostly along party lines, 43-56.
The amendment was part of what is called a "vote-a-rama," a lengthy series of votes on amendments during the budget process.
The Senate limits debate on budget measures to 50 hours but does not set a time limit for considering amendments. Lawmakers from both parties often introduce amendments structured to force members of the other party to support or oppose policies that could be controversial with constituents.
Typically, "political messaging, not real policy change, is the immediate purpose," said Steven Smith, a Senate specialist and political science professor emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis.
In Sessions’ amendment, the "deficit-reduction reserve fund" nods to the requirement that amendments address the federal budget. But the amendment was aimed at getting Democrats to vote against barring immigrants in the U.S. illegally from participating in federally subsidized health programs.
Smith said the Sessions amendment would have had "no policy effect." Even if it had passed, the federal government already had laws preventing spending on health coverage, such as Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, for migrants in the U.S. illegally, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Migrants in the U.S. illegally also cannot purchase subsidized health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance portal. (Some emergency services can trigger federal reimbursement to health care providers under a separate law, the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act, but that does not constitute continuing health insurance coverage.)
"Other legislation would have to be enacted into law for (the amendment) to have any potential meaning," Smith told PolitiFact.
During a budget "vote-a-rama," legislation could not be offered to change the underlying policy, because of how the chamber’s rules are structured.
Our ruling
An ad from Sheehy said Tester "voted to give taxpayer-funded health care to illegal immigrants."
In 2013, during a series of budget bill amendments, Tester and other Democrats voted against a Republican-sponsored amendment that would have prohibited immigrants illegally in the country from qualifying for federally subsidized health care.
But its passage would not have given "taxpayer-funded health care to illegal immigrants." Federal law already prohibited such spending and changing that would have required passing separate legislation.
We rate the statement False.