{"id":49909,"date":"2021-09-13T06:23:54","date_gmt":"2021-09-13T14:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2021\/09\/13\/montana-officials-loosen-proposed-marijuana-advertising-restrictions\/"},"modified":"2021-09-13T13:45:46","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T21:45:46","slug":"montana-officials-loosen-proposed-marijuana-advertising-restrictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2021\/09\/13\/montana-officials-loosen-proposed-marijuana-advertising-restrictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Officials Loosen Proposed Marijuana Advertising Restrictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Responding to industry pushback, the Department of Revenue loosens restrictions on dispensary marketing.<\/em><\/p>\n

By Justin Franz, Montana Free Press<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Montana Department of Revenue has revised proposed regulations regarding marijuana advertising that had raised eyebrows among dispensaries, growers and others in the state\u2019s burgeoning adult-use cannabis industry.<\/p>\n

This summer, the department has been navigating an exhaustive rulemaking process ahead of the Jan. 1, 2022, opening of Montana\u2019s recreational cannabis market. While Montana voters gave adult-use marijuana the green light<\/a> last November and the legislature passed a law to implement the program<\/a> earlier this year, it has been up to state bureaucrats at the revenue department\u2014which will oversee both the new recreational market and the medical marijuana system previously managed by the Department of Public Health and Human Services\u2014to sort out the details.<\/p>\n

While the legislature put various guardrails on legal cannabis during this spring\u2019s session, stakeholders in Montana\u2019s marijuana industry weren\u2019t happy with some DOR proposals earlier this year. One rule under consideration would have restricted the size of signs outside dispensaries and required signage to include a lengthy warning about marijuana\u2019s intoxicating effects and potential to be habit-forming, among other cautions. Another would have prohibited dispensaries from advertising. Pepper Petersen, president and CEO of the Montana Cannabis Guild, which represents producers and dispensaries across the state, called the proposals a \u201cradically conservative interpretation of the law.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0In August, he said his group was prepared to sue the state over those rules.<\/p>\n

More than a month later, Petersen\u2019s tune has changed after the state released a\u00a0revised set of proposed rules<\/a> in late last August.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are a lot more reasonable,\u201d he said of the revised rules. \u201cThey have addressed a lot of our concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the new rules, dispensaries will be able to promote their business via advertising and market their brand. However, dispensaries may not specifically advertise marijuana products except in online ads. The state has also eliminated what some dispensary owners believe was a burdensome set of rules that would have required dispensaries and other marijuana-related businesses to display a lengthy warning about the drug. The warnings will no longer be required on dispensary signage, but dispensary signs will still have to comply with local ordinances.<\/p>\n

Marijuana-related businesses that have a website will have to utilize appropriate measures to verify that people visiting the web page are at least 21 years old, much as breweries and distilleries are required to do. Social media accounts will also have to be private and must contain a notice on the main page stating that only people 21 or older can follow the account.<\/p>\n

The public can comment on the revised rules until 5 PM on September 20. Comments can be sent to \u200b\u200bTodd Olson, Department of Revenue, Director\u2019s Office, P.O. Box 7701, Helena, Montana 59604-7701 or emailed to todd.olson@mt.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Montana Department of Revenue Public Information Officer Czelsi G\u00f3mez said this week that the state is \u201con track\u201d to opening the adult-use recreational cannabis market on schedule on January 1, 2022.<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Montana Free Press.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The post Montana Officials Loosen Proposed Marijuana Advertising Restrictions<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Montana Officials Loosen Proposed Marijuana Advertising Restrictions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Responding to industry pushback, the Department of Revenue loosens restrictions on dispensary marketing. By Justin Franz, Montana Free Press The Montana Department of Revenue has revised proposed regulations regarding marijuana advertising that had raised eyebrows among dispensaries, growers and others in the state\u2019s burgeoning adult-use cannabis industry. This summer, theContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49909"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49909"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49910,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49909\/revisions\/49910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}