Pro-cannabis speakers gather at county courthouse ahead of June vote – Billings Gazette

Better for Montana, a ballot issue committee launched earlier this year, hosted speakers who urged those attending to vote against removing recreational cannabis. County commissioners have described the June vote as Yellowstone County’s definitive answer to the question of recreational pot.

“There are commissioners and there are local officials trying to take away what we’ve already voted for…It’s an uphill battle being that we’re in an off year mid-term primary, and whether that was by design or not, I think that it’s important that we get as many voters active and back to the polls as we can in June,” said Zach Schopp, president of Better for Montana.

Cannabis sales, both recreational and medical, in Montana have brought in an average of $24.3 million a month through March, according to data from the Montana Department of Revenue. That revenue is ahead of projections made by the state budget office, the Montana State New Bureau reported. The roughly $73 million in cannabis sales, according to the DoR, have amounted to an estimate $9.9 million in taxes paid.

Voters in Yellowstone County, which has consistently led the state in cannabis on a monthly basis, are set to decide in June whether to keep county dispensaries open to all adults. In November 2021, Billings residents opted to not have any recreational storefronts within the city. However, they also approved a 3% recreational marijuana sales tax on recreational marijuana.

The lack of uniformity among Yellowstone County residents regarding marijuana, as seen in the November vote in which the margin for and against recreational cannabis came down to 50.7% to 49.3%, prompted county commissioners to again ask voters whether recreational pot should continue here. The issue will appear on primary election ballots June 7. Montana Initiative 190, which legalized the possession and use of cannabis for anyone in Montana age 21 and older, passed statewide 56% to 43%.

“I ask, ‘Why is this an issue that we’re yet again voting for?’” said Shopp to the crow on Saturday. Shopp is also the president and CEO of Seed of Life Labs, a dispensary in Yellowstone County.

During a cannabis festival held east of Downtown Billings on April 20, venders offered joints and edibles, while also registering customers to vote. Better for Montana provides information on how to register to vote on its website, and has also started producing yard signs in the past month touting the tax revenue that would be lost should voters reject recreational cannabis.

Although fewer people gathered on the courthouse lawn Saturday than attended the cannabis festival, the speakers included former and current Montana House representatives. Jessica Karjala, who has represented District 48 for the past seven years, said more Montanans voted to approve recreational marijuana than any of the winners from the U.S. Senate, U.S. House or gubernatorial races in Montana in 2020.

The future of Montana was “clearly rooted” in the recreational marijuana industry, she said, in terms of both taxes and employment opportunities.