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Montana Gov. Vetoes Bill on Tribal Cannabis Agreements
Thu / Jun 26th
by TG Branfalt
https://www.ganjapreneur.com/montana-gov-vetoes-bill-on-tribal-cannabis-agreements/
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) has vetoed a bill that would have allowed the state’s tribal nations and the governor’s office to establish compacts to legalize and regulate cannabis on individual reservations. In a letter to Speak of the House Brandon Ler (R) and Senate President Matt Regier (R), Gianforte described the legislation as “unnecessary and duplicative.”
In May, Jeffry Stiffarm, president of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, sent a letter to Gianforte requesting that he veto the bill, saying it undermines “the sovereign rights” of the Tribe by “conditioning the exercise of tribal regulatory on state approval, mandating state control over cannabis licensing and revenue sharing, and imposing frameworks that treat tribes as subordinate entities rather than equal sovereign governments.”
“We believe tribal-state compacts regarding cannabis, gaming, taxation, and other issues must be negotiated on a government-to-government basis, with voluntary participation and respect for tribal sovereignty at the forefront.” — Stiffarm in a letter to Gianforte
Gianforte echoed sentiments outlined in Stiffarm’s letter, saying in addition to the state already having “over 400 agreements with Montana’s eight tribal nations addressing a broad scope of matters” – including cannabis regulation – he was concerned about the proposal’s “potential impact on tribal sovereignty and self-determination as well as the government-to-government relationship” between the state and tribal nations.
The bill, Gianforte concluded, “may constrain the scope and flexibility of negotiations, introduce unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, and impose State priorities on tribal nations,” and “interfere with the ability of both parties to engage in open, meaningful, and equal negotiations as sovereigns, potentially weakening cooperation and collaboration.”
Rand Paul Files Bill To Triple Federal THC Limit For Hemp As House Pursues Crackdown On Consumable Cannabinoids
By Kyle Jaeger
June 25, 2025
As the hemp industry raises concerns about congressional attempts to ban most consumable cannabinoid products, a GOP senator has filed a bill that would triple the concentration of THC that the crop could legally contain, while addressing multiple other concerns the industry has expressed about federal regulations.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the legislation, titled the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act, last week. It mirrors versions he’s sponsored over the last several sessions.
Hemp and its derivatives were legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, but the industry has experienced multiple setbacks in the years since—and the proliferation of intoxicating cannabinoid products has led to pushes in Congress and state legislatures across the country to reign in the largely unregulated market.
To that point, a GOP-led House committee this week approved a spending bill containing provisions that hemp stakeholders say would devastate the industry, prohibiting most consumable cannabinoid products that were federally legalized during the first Trump administration.
The legislation would “effectively” criminalize hemp-derived cannabinoid products, including CBD, according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.
In contrast, the newly reintroduced measure from Paul would address one of the most common complaints that lawmakers have heard from hemp businesses under the current law, which is that the crop is federally defined as containing no more than 0.3 percent THC by dry weight. They say that’s too low, and so the bill would increase that threshold to 1 percent.
It would also address potential problems with testing requirements under U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations. Hemp processors currently get a 15-day window to test the crop’s flower to ensure that the THC concentration is within the allowed limits. But testing flower can be onerous and farmers have said it would stretch their resources thin, not to mention that the plant’s THC is significantly impacted by external factors.
To fix that issue, the bill calls for final hemp products themselves to be tested, rather than the initial flower from the plant.
The legislation also sets documentation requirements for people transporting hemp shipments, intended to prevent further instances of law enforcement seizing the legal crop, believing it to be illicit marijuana. The bill expands the type of documentation that people could possess to demonstrate product legality.
Whereas the initial version of Paul’s measure filed in 2020 would have required them to carry a certificate from a lab demonstrating that the product contains no more than 1 percent THC, they could now instead choose to simply bring a copy of the hemp producer’s license.
While stakeholders would welcome the senator’s proposal, there’s also significant anxiety within the industry about the separate legislation that would significantly upend the hemp market that’s developed over the last several years.
While report language attached to the 2026 appropriations bill was recently amended to clarify lawmakers’ intent not to disrupt the non-intoxicating cannabinoid market—signaling that products like CBD shouldn’t be banned—the legislation itself hasn’t changed and could still jeopardize the industry without further amendments to its provisions.
Hemp industry stakeholders rallied against that proposal, an earlier version of which was also included in the base bill from the subcommittee last year. It’s virtually identical to a provision of the 2024 Farm Bill that was attached by a separate committee last May via an amendment from Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), which was also not enacted into law.
A leading alcohol industry association, meanwhile, has called on Congress to dial back language in the House spending bill that would ban most consumable hemp products, instead proposing to maintain the legalization of naturally derived cannabinoids from the crop and only prohibit synthetic items.
Members of Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) also met with lawmakers and staffers in April to advocate for three key policy priorities that the group says is based on “sound principles of alcohol distribution.” They include banning synthetic THC, setting up a federal system for testing and labeling products and establishing state-level power to regulate retail sales.
Separately, key GOP congressional lawmakers—including one member who supports marijuana legalization—don’t seem especially concerned about provisions in the new spending bill that would put much of the hemp industry in jeopardy by banning most consumable products derived from the plant.
Jonathan Miller, general counsel of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, told congressional lawmakers in April that the market is “begging” for federal regulations around cannabis products.
At the hearing, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) also inquired about FDA inaction around regulations, sarcastically asking if it’d require “a gazillion bureaucrats that work from home” to regulate cannabinoids such as CBD.
A report from Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) last year called cannabis a “significant threat” to the alcohol industry, citing survey data that suggests more people are using cannabis as a substitute for alcoholic beverages such a beer and wine.
Last November, meanwhile, a beer industry trade group put out a statement of guiding principles to address what it called “the proliferation of largely unregulated intoxicating hemp and cannabis products,” warning of risks to consumers and communities resulting from THC consumption.
Thailand moves to recriminalise cannabis, shaking $1 billion industry
By Chayut Setboonsarng and Napat Wesshasartar
June 25, 2025
BANGKOK, June 25 (Reuters) - Thailand's government is moving to recriminalise cannabis, plunging into limbo an industry estimated to be worth over $1 billion that has boomed since the substance was taken off the country's narcotics list in 2022.
The push to impose new controls on recreational use of cannabis comes after the Bhumjaithai Party, which championed its legalisation, withdrew from the ruling coalition last week following Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra's apparent mishandling of a border row with Cambodia.
Late on Tuesday, Thailand's health ministry issued an order prohibiting the sale of cannabis for recreational use and making it mandatory for any retail purchase to require a doctor's prescription.
The new rules will come into effect once they are published in the Royal Gazette, which could happen within days.
"Cannabis will be classified as a narcotic in the future," Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said on Tuesday.
Three years ago, Thailand became one of the first countries in Asia to decriminalise the recreational use of cannabis, but without any comprehensive rules to govern the sector.
Since then, tens of thousands of shops and businesses selling cannabis have sprung up across Thailand, many of them located in the country's tourism hubs.
Thai Chamber of Commerce previously estimated the industry, which includes medicinal products, could be worth $1.2 billion by 2025.
Unregulated access to cannabis has created serious social problems, particularly for children and young people, said government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub.
"The policy must return to its original goal of controlling cannabis for medical use only," Jirayu said in a statement.
The recriminalisation push has left some cannabis industry members like Punnathat Phutthisawong, who works at the Green House Thailand dispensary in Bangkok, stunned.
"This is my main source of income," Punnathat, 25, told Reuters. "Many shops are probably just as shocked because a lot of them invested heavily."
The cannabis sector could have transformed Thai agriculture, medicine and tourism, but uncertainty and policy reversals have stymied any sustainable growth, said cannabis activist Chokwan Kitty Chopaka.
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"The cannabis industry has become a hostage to politics," she said.
On Wednesday, there was still a steady trickle of customers - mainly tourists - coming into cannabis shops in Bangkok's Khao San Road area, among them Daniel Wolf, who is visiting from Australia.
"There are shops everywhere, so how do they reverse this? I don't think they can," he said, " It's absolutely insane."
MORE MONTANA NEWS
Native American group asks to join MT ballot access suit, alleging harms to tribal members
June 25th, 2025
https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-regional/crime-courts/article
A Native American rights group this week asked to join a lawsuit against Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen over a recently enacted bill that tightens Election Day voter registration hours, arguing the new law disproportionately harms the Indigenous population.
The Native American Rights Fund (NARF), a Colorado-based nonprofit that provides legal assistance to tribes across the U.S., and the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana joined the lawsuit over Senate Bill 490 originally filed earlier this year by the state's largest public employee union.
SB 490, sponsored by Eureka Republican Sen. Mike Cuffe, truncates Election Day voter registration in federal elections. Under current law, Montanans can register and vote if they're in line by 8 p.m. on Election Day. The newly signed law shifts those hours so voter registration would be open until 5 p.m. on the Friday before Election Day, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and until noon on the day of the election.
NARF and the ACLU of Montana allege that because of the preexisting ballot access issues Native Americans experience on reservations, they are disproportionately harmed by the new law, and it therefore violates their right to vote and the guarantee of equal protection under the Montana Constitution.
Overcoming barriers to voting and participating in the electoral process is a decades-long struggle for Native Americans.
In Montana, people who live on reservations struggle with access to reliable transportation, and even if they do secure a ride, the distance from a tribal community to a county election office is an average of 85 miles round trip, according to a 2020 Montana Legislative Services Division report.
“We are not asking for special treatment—we’re demanding equal treatment," Northern Cheyenne President Gene Small said in a press release. "When you live miles and miles from the nearest polling place, and the roads are snowed in all morning, taking away eight hours of Election Day registration creates real life problems for everyday voters. It’s anti-democratic."
Tribes across Montana also lack a uniform address system, making it difficult to receive residential mail on the reservations, which is a large part of voting and voter engagement.
Part of the harms are also born out of tradition, explained Keaton Sunchild, government relations director for Western Native Voice.
"In the grand scheme of things, voting is very new to reservations, very new to Native Americans, so they're just kind of hardwired to: Election Day is the day we vote," Sunchild said when reached by phone Wednesday. "It's a tradition that their family follows, has always followed."
In the 2024 general election, the statewide voter turnout average was nearly 77%, according to the Montana Secretary of State's Office. But in the state's majority Indigenous counties, the voter turnout averages lagged behind the statewide number.
In Big Horn County, home to most of the Crow Reservation, the average turnout was 59%; Roosevelt County, where the majority of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation is located, was 65%; and Glacier County, where most of the Blackfeet Reservation lies, was 62%.
Those in favor of the new law say it is meant to alleviate the lines and backlogs that accumulate at polling places on Election Day. In November, polling locations saw huge lines of people registering and voting, where wait times were so long that food had to be provided for voters and some waited until the early-morning hours of the following day. They also pointed out that in most places across Montana, the change that SB 490 implemented does not alter the number of hours people have to register, it just shifts them to a different day.
Secretary of State Spokesperson Richie Melby said that this lawsuit is "denying the opportunity to utilize same-weekend voter registration for Tribal voters, rural Montanans, business owners, students, and others by adding an entire day of voter registration opportunities that has not existed previously..."
"Instead, they are opting for long lines and chaos on Election Day — East Coast politics and judicial activism at their worst," he added in an email.
But Sunchild said the change to Saturday hours "is not an even trade."
"It doesn't really work for Native communities, especially on reservations, to get rid of those eight hours and slap them on a random day and call it good," he said.
SB 490 spurred legal debates at the Legislature from the moment it was introduced, but it ultimately passed largely along party lines, with Democrats opposed. During the 2025 legislative session, nonpartisan staff attorneys issued a somewhat rare legal note on SB 490, warning that it could violate a recent Montana Supreme Court ruling.
Last year, the Montana Supreme Court struck down four elections-related bills — including one which eliminated Election Day voter registration — that were challenged by multiple tribes, NARF, Western Native Voice and others.
“Our ancestors fought for recognition, sovereignty, and dignity. It’s racism to try and enact the same laws over again," Fort Belknap Indian Community President Jeffrey Stiffarm said in the press release. "We will not let the state drag us backwards or silence our people. Not now. Not ever.”
DPHHS: Billings 'more and more' likely location for new state behavioral health facility
June 25th, 2025
https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/article
Montana's behavioral health system build-out is zeroing in on Billings as the site of a new facility for criminal defendants in need of intense psychiatric treatment.
Since before Montana's statehood, the state hospital for patients with severe psychiatric needs has been anchored in Warm Springs between Butte and Deer Lodge. That's a long haul for most of the state, particularly the eastern side where behavioral health services are sparse.
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services Director Charlie Brereton told a state commission on Monday that with recently approved funding and ongoing momentum to bolster behavioral health services, the department seems likely to land a new facility in the Yellowstone County region.
"Right now we are focused on identifying a site for the facility and it looks more and more like the Billings region will be the location for the facility," Brereton told the Behavioral Health Systems for Future Generations Commission on Monday at the state Capitol.
The state's system is especially needy for forensic beds, where criminal defendants are ordered after being found by a judge to lack the mental fitness to stand in their own defense. The waitlist for a bed at Galen, the forensic facility a few miles from Warm Springs, averages about 100 people per day.
"Galen continues to be at or over capacity. It's no secret there are waitlists the department continues to work through," Brereton said at Monday's commission meeting. "So forensic will be our top priority for the facility in Eastern Montana."
Brereton noted the department is still settling on architectural plans that will help determine where might best fit the new campus. Early concepts for the facility might include a campus approach, he added, in preparation for expansion to include civil commitments that would more closely mirror the behavioral health services at Warm Springs' Montana State Hospital facilities.
The commission was proposed by Gov. Greg Gianforte and allocated $300 million by the Legislature in 2023 to shore up the state's hobbled mental health system. Of that tranche, $75 million was set aside for capital developments. In April, the 2025 Legislature approved $26.5 million of that for the state to begin identifying a site specifically for Eastern Montana.
Billings City Councilman Bill Kennedy said in a phone interview Tuesday he'd like to see the welcome mat rolled out for the prospect of such a facility.
"We have the population to provide the employees for them, we have the programs right here that will help as they get out," Kennedy said, a sharp comparison to Warm Springs, which has long lacked employees and step-down services in the immediate area. "We have services here and you want to make sure that folks when they are coming out and acclimating."
In the past, a deputy may take the time to drive someone to Warm Springs, only to find out the facility had no capacity for them, Kennedy said.
Another piece of legislation to reimburse county jails for holding those patients in waiting for a bed at Warm Springs was vetoed by Gianforte earlier this month. The Legislature also just approved two additional district court judges for Yellowstone County, likely broadening the pipeline of people committed to state custody for severe psychiatric care.
"You're going to have more and more needs to stabilize the clientele and get them ready so they're able to go to court or to a treatment program, or whatever will help them and change their lives," Kennedy said.
Mike Boyett, another Billings Councilman, said the workforce matter was a source of concern for him when he spoke with state officials about the early outlook of a facility there.
"We're struggling to keep restaurants open," he said in a phone interview. "The local hospital is looking for mental health workers. ... I’m not saying it can’t be done, that’s just my concern."
Other concerns Boyett said he expressed included placing the facility in a residential part of town. Either way, Boyett said he understands the plan is in its earliest stages and, to him, Billings makes a lot of sense for the new facility’s location as a hub of half the state.
Matt Kuntz, executive director at Montana's chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, shared the enthusiasm on Monday during the BHSFG commission meeting.
"If you were in (the health and human services legislative committees), you heard how bad the situations are in our jails and there is no other option than a forensic unit," Kuntz told the commission. "We're incredibly grateful."
While there was plenty of emphasis during Monday's meeting on the preliminary nature of the project, some state officials have already met with Billings leaders about it. Sen. Jon Esp, a Republican from Big Timber and longtime mental health advocate at the Legislature, said he expects additional contact with the city council in the coming days.
"They are getting down into the details," Esp said during Monday's meeting.
Sen. Mike Yakawich, a Billings Republican and member of the BHSFG commission, urged the department to begin a campaign early to educate the community about the project.
"We might need to do more public relations in Yellowstone County as we move forward," he said. "… I think it's always good to be proactive, and now is better than later."