Montana will soon crack down on synthetic marijuana and intoxicating hemp products that have proliferated through regulatory loopholes despite concerns they pose a health risk to children.
The Cannabis Control Division, the marijuana regulatory arm of the Montana Department of Revenue, said Tuesday eradicating synthetic products will be the “biggest lift” for the agency between now and the 2025 Legislature.
“Most of these businesses that we will be inspecting will be glass shops, gas stations, vape shops,” division administrator Kristan Barbour told the committee. “We’re just going in and making sure they know that any synthetic cannabinoid or hemp intoxicating product is no longer carried.”
The substances were identified by the agency in January as the likely culprit in a rash of youth hospitalizations raised by local health officials after the first year of marijuana legalization in Montana.
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House Bill 948, carried by Republican Rep. Steve Galloway of Great Falls, established a statewide prohibition on the manufacturing and sale of synthetic marijuana and intoxicating hemp products. Such substances previously fell outside of purview of the Cannabis Control…
