BILLINGS – A big decision for the marijuana business was made on Tuesday. Yellowstone County Commissioners voted on two resolutions relating to recreational marijuana in the county.
A decision was made on a ballot question that would let voters decide the fate of recreational sales in the county. As well as whether or not an additional 3% tax on marijuana sales would be put on the ballot this fall.
The first resolution failed, but the second one will be on the November ballot.
“Please give voters another opportunity to vote for this initiative. I feel that the language was disingenuous and people didn’t quite understand,” Yellowstone County resident Christina Leininger said.
During the public hearing, some residents said they don’t want dispensaries selling recreational cannabis at all.
“I feel that there is a direct correlation, historically, to the implementation of substances to violent crime in communities,” Leininger said.
But some residents aren’t the only ones concerned with recreational marijuana in Billings.
“The introduction of recreational marijuana will be a significant problem for law enforcement, and it’s going to exacerbate the addiction and the social problems that we’re struggling to handle currently,” Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said.
Chief St. John continues to be outspoken against recreational marijuana, saying it does more harm than good in local communities.
“Taxation causes product to go out the back door for the black market. We see a small amount of revenue generated via taxes that is offset by the costs to mitigate the effects,” Chief St. John said.
In the end, the resolution failed. So the question of whether or not to allow recreational marijuana sales will not be on the ballot in November.
However, marijuana advocates defended the cannabis industry in front of Yellowstone County Commissioners.
“With the taxes on marijuana, we can help fund our police, we can help out with some of the vagrancy that’s going on in downtown Billings,” Resident Lance Parks said.
Advocates argue it’s better to regulate recreational marijuana sales rather than not allowing them at all.
“Because it’s still going to be legal here in the county for people to grow, that could lead to more black market sales, so less tax revenue for the county,” Brian Kondracki, with Green Thumb Wellness, said.
They say now that recreational sales are officially allowed in the county, voters would easily pass the 3% local option tax.
“That’s going to be a no-brainer. Everyone is going to say, ‘yeah, let’s get that extra 3%, for recreational and medical,'” Kondracki said.
So here’s what’s on the ballot for Nov. 2: The question will be if voters want the 3% tax on all marijuana products.
State law says recreational pot will already be taxed at 20%, so a “Yes” vote would put it at a total of 23% sales tax.
For medical marijuana, there’s already a 4% tax, so a 3% hike puts it at 7% sales tax.
With the commissioner’s vote on Tuesday, licensed dispensaries can start selling recreational products on Jan. 1, 2022.
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