‘A Long Time Coming’: Recreational Cannabis Sales Go Live In Montana
Recreational cannabis sales opened to the general public Saturday
The new year ushered in a new day in Montana, with the prohibition on recreational cannabis sales left behind in 2021.
Seventeen years after medical marijuana providers and patients started blazing the path, recreational cannabis sales opened to the general public Saturday. Some dispensaries in Helena had lines of people packed inside to avoid cold temperatures, while others saw a small but steady stream of foot traffic through noon.
Heidi Morris, a budtender at The Higher Standard, said about two-thirds of Saturday’s customers at her location in Helena weren’t familiar with the finer points of cannabis yet. But at the Cannabis Corner, J.D. “Pepper” Petersen, the owner and one of the front men for the legalization campaign in 2020, said the large majority of customers had “done their research.”
“It’s about time,” said Frank Harris, 57, after leaving the Treasure Tree dispensary on one of Helena’s busier thoroughfares.
Harris lives in White Sulphur Springs in Meagher County, which is a “red county.” The regulatory structure passed by the Legislature in 2021 banned recreational cannabis sales in the counties that voted against legalization in the 2020 election, like Meagher County.
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