Montana Health Department Issues Temporary Medical Cannabis Rules
Montana’s health department issued temporary emergency rules on June 26, just four days before the deadline when the state’s medical cannabis program takes effect. The purpose of the emergency rules is clarify confusion over the state’s original ballot initiative and to cover gaps in legal protections.
The emergency rules outline how the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (CPHHS) will regulate possession limits, testing laboratories and concentrate manufacturers during the transitional period. “DPHHS is undergoing an extensive administrative rulemaking process that will essentially ‘stand up’ the program once this process is fully completed next year,” said department spokesman Jon Ebelt told the Billings Gazette.
Per the emergency rules, the health department will issue licenses to cannabis testing labs on a case-by-case basis. Cannabis testing facilities are needed for required testing that begins in 2018. The temporary rules will also issue temporary licenses to “chemical manufacturers” who will make cannabis extracts.
The Montana Patients Rights Network notified Gov. Steve Bullock about a technicality over possession rules, prompting the DPHHS clarified the possession rules. Patients who register to a provider, patients who provide for themselves and providers, were not clearly defined under I-182, Montana’s medical cannabis law. Registered cardholders who have named a provider can possess up to an ounce of usable cannabis. Cardholders who have not named a provider can possess up to four mature plants and four seedlings. All gaps in legal protection were clarified under the emergency rules.
Also the Montana Department of Revenue will collect four percent of provider’s gross sales and after a year, the number will drop to two percent. Over 15,000 patients in Montana are registered to participate in the medical cannabis program.
The temporary rules expire in 120 days. The deadline for the final, permanent regulatory framework is April 30, 2018.
