Commissioner: Pro-marijuana group violated campaign laws

The Montana commissioner of political practices found a marijuana industry association violated campaign laws by filing multiple reports late. The decision came attached to the latest effort by an anti-marijuana organization to raise issue with a medical cannabis ballot initiative.

The Montana Cannabis Industry Association filed five campaign finance reports after deadline, according to the commissioner’s report released Wednesday.

The failure means the association could either face civil prosecution or resolve the issue through a negotiated fine.

Anti-marijuana group Safe Montana filed a complaint with the commissioner Sept. 27, alleging the association failed to properly register, report and disclose campaign information in reference to Initiative 182. The initiative on election ballots in November seeks to expand medical marijuana in the state.

Commissioner Jonathan Motl said state law requires political committees to file campaign finance reports for the public, press and opposing political committees to understand the funds tied to a particular effort.

“The failure to fully and timely report and disclose cannot generally be excused by oversight or ignorance,” Motl wrote in his findings.

The Montana Cannabis Industry Association did not respond to requests for an interview.

INITIATIVE 182 seeks to relax many of the restrictions a Montana Supreme Court ruling created that went into effect Aug. 31.

Among those restrictions, the ruling limited medical marijuana providers to three clients.

In the most recent state report of registered medical marijuana patients, nearly 90 percent of cannabis cardholders in Montana are without access to a legal provider as dispensaries have either closed or narrowed their clients to three.

I-182 Supporters say along with removing the provider’s three-person limit, the initiative will add regulations to create a more responsible state marijuana program (see http://bit.ly/2eJJXWx for more information).

Founder of Safe Montana Steve Zabawa said the initiative’s requirements don’t go far enough to ensure Montana won’t have “pot shops on every corner.”

A Lee Newspapers poll conducted from Oct. 10 through 12 and reported by the Billings Gazette reported that the majority of Montana voters would not support I-182. It showed 51 percent of people who responded to the poll said they would vote no on the ballot initiative. Another 44 percent favored the measure and 5 percent reported they were undecided.

Safe Montana spent $92,000 on a failed ballot initiative that would have repealed the Montana Marijuana Act — making cannabis illegal for any purpose. After the measure didn’t meet signature requirements to qualify for the ballot, Zabawa created a campaign against I-182.

“We’re not anti-medical marijuana … we’re against it being all over the place and used for recreational purposes,” Zabawa said. “I’m not saying the provider limit of three works well — it’s hard to know what number would — but I-182 doesn’t have enough protections in place.”

Along with filing finance reports late, Safe Montana accused the association of being a ballot committee with the purpose to pass I-182, instead of a political committee.

Commissioner Motl rejected that claim and said the association has been engaged in policy advocacy since 2012.

Safe Montana also accused the association of trying to “disguise campaign activity,” due to the organization going by Montana Cannabis Information Association and Montana Cannabis Industry Association. Motl dismissed that accusation as well.

Zabawa said he was relieved to see the association held in check for its late filings, but wanted to see more of his concerns recognized by the commissioner’s investigation.

Since the commissioner decided the association’s 2016 campaign activities fell out of step with state law, a following investigation will seek to determine whether there are explanations that may affect the prosecution of the violation or the amount of the possibly negotiated fine.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.