Montana’s marijuana regulators are eliminating two widely criticized proposals tied to the state’s January rollout of legal cannabis sales.
One proposed rule from regulators in the Montana Department of Revenue would have barred anyone with a criminal conviction in the last three years from working in Montana’s cannabis industry. Critics, including some state lawmakers, said that was an overly broad interpretation of legislative intent and could cost existing employees their jobs.
State Rep. Derek Harvey of Butte is vice chair of the legislature’s Economic Affairs Interim Committee. Harvey says the worker permit proposal would have undermined Montana’s fledgling adult-use marijuana industry.
“We want a seamless transition over to recreational from medical, and so that needed to come out so Montanans weren’t losing their jobs for a minor infraction that they may have had,” Harvey says.
The revenue department will also withdraw a rule banning dispensaries from selling CBD products.
A state revenue department spokesperson tells Montana Public Radio regulators are hammering out the precise language of the changes, but both amended rules should be finalized some time next month.