Thoughts from the void: Cannabis and Montana

Montana has been in the cannabis news in the past for many wrong reasons. 'In two states, Montana and Kentucky, African Americans were arrested for marijuana possession violations at more than nine times the rate of Caucasians – the highest disparity in the country. Colorado and Alaska, which legalized adult-use marijuana sales in 2012 and 2014 respectively, possessed the lowest disparity in marijuana possession arrest rates', an ACLU report says.

A recent move by the Blackfeet Tribal Council to legalize medical cannabis was overturned by its own authorities.

All this was however the dark hours before the dawn as the people of the state of Montana, through ballot measures passed I-190 and I-118 at the end of October 2020. 'I-190 allows adults to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and to cultivate up to four mature plants for personal use. It also establishes a licensing system for commercial marijuana producers and retail sellers. I-118 establishes a legal age requirement of 21 years old for those wishing to legally possess, grow, or purchase cannabis,' according to NORML. This inevitable action by the people after waiting for lawmakers to do what was necessary to correct the wrongs of the past is a great victory for the grassroots level movements that battled for cannabis legalization for decades.

Montana had a reasonably healthy hemp cultivation program after the Farm Bill of 2018 legalized it. It also was taking initial steps to bring in cannabis for medical purposes. But the wave of public support for recreational legalization that is sweeping the US, lifted Montana from being comparable to Texas in terms of cannabis curbs to becoming one of the states with legalized adult recreational cannabis use through the power of the people.

At least 35 US states have legalized cannabis for medical use so far. The federal US government however continues to keep cannabis in the Schedule 1 list of banned substances saying that it has no medicinal value. The list of US states that have legalized adult recreational cannabis is available here. All these states have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, aimed specifically at improving public health, ensuring equity, reducing crime, decreasing the black market, improving law enforcement, reforming criminal justice, improving the economy, agriculture and industry, to name just a few reasons.

Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.

'I-190 allows adults to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and to cultivate up to four mature plants for personal use. It also establishes a licensing system for commercial marijuana producers and retail sellers. I-118 establishes a legal age requirement of 21 years old for those wishing to legally possess, grow, or purchase cannabis.'
https://norml.org/blog/2020/10/30/montanans-vote-yes-on-marijuana-legalization/

'Passage of the 2018 Farm Bill sparked both sharp nationwide increases in licensing and explosive sales growth for 2019.
The issuance of U.S. hemp-cultivation licenses saw a year-over-year, nationwide increase of 364% (from 3,546 in 2018 to 16,462 in 2019).
Small family farms’ entry to the space drove licensing booms in some states, while other states saw the arrival of Big Agriculture interests in their markets.
In 2019, Tennessee led the trend with 3,200 new licenses, marking more than a 13x increase over its 226 in 2018. Conversely, Montana’s comparatively low 277 licenses in 2019 represent nearly 40,000 acres, averaging a Big Ag-style footprint of more than 144 acres apiece.
Traditional hemp states Colorado, Kentucky, and Oregon continue to lead in cultivation as the nation overall shows a projected 225,000 acres harvested in 2019, more than a 180% increase beyond 78,176 in 2018.'

https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/increases-in-state-issued-hemp-licenses/

Cannabit from New Frontier Data...

'The 29 U.S. states having reporting licensed hemp cultivation acreage total nearly half a million acres in combined cultivation land area, a massive increase over 2018’s combined U.S. total of just over 100,000 acres.
Colorado leads the nation in hemp cultivation and processing land area with over 80,000 acres reported.
Oregon, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Montana lead in hemp program expansion efforts.
Tennessee leads in total hemp licenses issued in 2019.
At least 70% of the 2019 U.S. hemp harvest is intended for extract production.
California is poised to be the top-producing hemp state for both conventional and organic production as thousands of acres have already been planted in 2019'

https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/hemp-licenses-issued-by-state-2019/

'Earlier this month, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services set the grow space at 30 square feet per registered patient served as part of a final set of rules for the program.'
https://billingsgazette.com/news/government-and-politics/montana-issues-rule-on-medical-marijuana-grow-space-but-overproduction/article_9688eb8b-4c89-57bf-8878-6dbab9c0d506.html

Surprising that this tribe criminalized marijuana in the first place...

'The resolution was recommended by the Blackfeet Law & Order Committee after they received information from a tribal member, who was facing jail time for possessing medical marijuana that is used to treat his seizures.'
https://ktvq.com/news/montana-news/2018/10/10/montana-tribe-decriminalizes-medical-marijuana/

'Blackfeet Agency Superintendent Thedis Crowe of the BIA rejected the Blackfeet Tribal Council's legalization of medical marijuana, which is aligned with Montana law.

After passing the legalization ordinance unanimously and getting the tribal court and Blackfeet law enforcement on board, the council submitted the law to the BIA in October.'
https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2018/12/05/feds-try-squash-blackfeet-medical-marijuana-legalization/2219964002/

The story is the same globally..minorities, indigenous people, tribals and the poor are the primary targets of marijuana policing...

'Authors wrote, "In every single state, Black people were more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, and in some states, Black people were up to six, eight, or almost ten times more likely to be arrested. In 31 states, racial disparities were actually larger in 2018 than they were in 2010."

In two states, Montana and Kentucky, African Americans were arrested for marijuana possession violations at more than nine times the rate of Caucasians – the highest disparity in the country. Colorado and Alaska, which legalized adult-use marijuana sales in 2012 and 2014 respectively, possessed the lowest disparity in marijuana possession arrest rates'
https://norml.org/news/2020/04/23/aclu-report-racial-disparities-persist-in-marijuana-possession-arrests