HELENA — The House on Monday approved, 81-19, some proposed changes to a medical marijuana bill that would set up a regulatory structure and tax medical marijuana providers.
The conference committee amendments to Senate Bill 333, by Sen. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, face a final House vote before going to Gov. Steve Bullock for his signature or veto. The Senate approved the amendments last week.
A conference committee last week ironed out the differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill.
Legislators can make these decisions to regulate it or allow the “unelected bureaucrats” at the state health department do so, he said.
Rep. Steve Gunderson, R-Libby, opposed the changes, saying the House, Senate and conferences committees had passed a combined total of 105 amendments.
“This bill is too big, too complex and has too many moving parts and is brought too late in the session,” he said.
Rep. Tom Jacobson, D-Great Falls, said the House would kill the bill if it rejected the conference committee amendments. He said the opponents to the bill are the providers who don’t want to pay taxes to pay for regulating the industry.
Rep. Bob Brown, R-Thompson Falls, said the amended bill is not what Montanans voted for when 58 percent of them supported Initiative 182 in November.
“If a bill comes and it’s got too many amendments on it, it’s not ready,” he said. “We should allow the department to do the work they were asked to do by the voters.”
Rep. Jeff Essmann, R-Billings, told the history of the rapid growth of medical marijuana cardholders in Montana in 2010, with dispensaries cropping up near schools. He sponsored a 2011 law to regulate medical marijuana, but added that the House, where many representatives wanted to ban medical marijuana, added amendments to make it more restrictive.
“The voters have spoken again,” Essmann said. “They said they wanted a regulated program. It’s time for a choice. You cannot stay in the shadows forever…. We cannot afford to go back to the Wild, Wild West of 2010.”
Rep. Derek Skees, R-Kalispell, said the federal government still classifies marijuana as a Schedule One illegal drug.
Meanwhile, Caferro said earlier she was pleased with how the bill has turned out.
She added, “I believe people need medical marijuana. I want them to have access to medical marijuana that’s safe.”
The bill pays for the state regulation with a tax charged on medical marijuana providers. SB333 requires state licensing of providers of medical marijuana and marijuana-infused products, dispensaries where products are sold and testing laboratories.
One major change approved by the conference committee would impose a tax paid by medical marijuana providers, instead of a fee as the House proposed.
Providers would be charged a 4 percent tax the first year to pay for the cost of setting up the regulatory structure. It would drop to 2 percent in later years to cover ongoing regulatory costs.
The tax would be applied on medical marijuana’s product provider’s gross sales, not on purchases made by medical marijuana cardholders.
The conference committee kept in place a House change that requires state testing of medical marijuana from providers. However, so-called small providers who supply the product to 10 patients or fewer will be exempt from testing for three years.
credit:bozemandailychronicle.com