Montana Recreational Marijuana Sales And Use Becomes Legal On New Years Day 2022

Recreational sales and use of marijuana is about to become legal in Montana.

Recreational cannabis sales and use can start on Saturday, January 1st, after voters approved a Montana state constitutional amendment.

The road to recreational use has been thrust onward by Montana’s voters, who legalized medical use in 2004 and then took the full plunge in 2020.

In last year’s election, 58% of voters enshrined cannabis use in the state Constitution alongside alcohol.

In the final weeks ahead of recreational sales, providers have been ramping up their production, specializing their craft and bracing for the unknowns such as what demand will be

Local governments, have been trying to balance the voters’ will with regulatory framework rolled out by the state Legislature, along with feedback from the industry.

Recreational marijuana sales will not be allowed in Billings, and the rest of Yellowstone County will have a special vote in early June, on the same issue.

Sales will be permitted on the Crow Indian Reservation, as the tribal government will oversee its own cultivation and sales.

Wyoming law enforcement is reminding citizens that while purchasing, possessing and consumption of marijuana may be legal in Montana, it’s still illegal in the Cowboy State.

Just because marijuana was purchased in one state, does not mean a person is allowed to possess it in another.

Colorado legalized marijuana sales in 2012, and not long after that, Wyoming law enforcement personnel experienced an increase in marijuana possession arrests, because many purchasers thought once they bought it in Colorado, then it was legal to possess it in Wyoming.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.