Recreational Marijuana is Legal in Montana…But There’s a Catch.

Well, it happened. Recreational Marijuana is now legal in much of the state of Montana and apparently business is booming.

In fact, KPAX reported that several folks waited in their cars in freezing temperatures on Saturday for shops to open, so they could be the first to take advantage of the new law that went into effect.

Here is where it gets a bit tricky, only certain counties in the state are authorized to sell marihuana for recreational use. Those counties are called "Green Counties" There are 28 green counties, however, those counties contain a major majority of Montana's population.

So before you start dreaming of all the different options of weird food combos, what does that mean? Can you buy the hippie lettuce or not?

The answer to that is, yes. You just have to buy it in one of those 28 counties. You might be asking, "why can I buy marijuana in some counties in Montana and not others? Great question, and here's the answer. It all comes down to how folks voted.

In counties where voters passed the measure to legalize recreational marijuana, those counties are open for business. In counties where the measure didn't pass, they're not allowed to sell recreational marijuana. Once again, what does that mean for you? Well, it means that if you want to buy recreational marijuana and live in a county not authorized to sell it, then you need to go to a county that is allowed to sell to make your purchase.

Confused yet?

Hold on though, all hope is not lost if you're county isn't one of the 28, but you want them to be. For those counties that didn't vote for the measure, they have a chance to hold an additional vote so that they can "opt-in". How? According to KPAX, it starts with a petition. If the petition receives enough signatures, then another vote can be held for the county in question. Ready for the flip side? That whole petition thing goes both ways. Let's say someone living in a green county decides that they're not big fans of the "flower", they can start a petition to reverse the county status.

Either way, welcome to 2022 and I think with the new law, now would be a perfect time for my "Cereal Bar" idea. All you can eat cereal, mix and match with different flavors of milk, 24 hours a day. I'm gonna be rich!

Credit: KPAX