SEELEY LAKE - Fat Hippie, LLC owner Terry Lucke and office manager Dawn Butler are concerned with certain aspects of the upcoming initiative I-190 on the November ballot that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Montana.
“I don’t ever want to be the guy that comes out saying that I think that weed shouldn’t be legal cause I really do think it should be legal,” Lucke said. “I also don’t want to be the guy that stands around and is misinterpreted as saying that I think that anybody should be in a cage as a result of a non-violent drug offence. That being said I am not in favor of this bill just because of all the dark money that’s supporting it.”
Most of the support for the initiative has come from New Approach PAC and North Fund. New Approach PAC is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that supports initiatives seeking to legalize medical and recreational marijuana. Their Montana campaign is based in Helena. North Fund is another Washington, D.C. nonprofit that has given nearly $5 million to New Approach Montana.
“My biggest concern is just that you don’t dump [several] million dollars into a state for nothing,” Lucke said adding New Approach and North Fund have not disclosed their donors. “I’m interested in a rec bill that comes for Montanans by Montanans. I’m just not interested in out-of-state mega corporations coming in here and telling all the local guys we’re going to do all this for you because you know how that story always ends.”
Lucke said New Approach has destroyed medical markets everywhere they’ve gone. He is concerned about the elderly and the veterans not being able to get or afford medical marijuana. Those on a fixed income typically have to budget for their medicinal purchases.
Butler added a 20% tax on recreational purchases would create a significant cost increase on their products. Lucke is concerned that consumers would mostly migrate to the recreational market leading to medical dispensaries being unable to compete.
“The last thing you want is businesses like [Fat Hippie where] everyone has put in a lot of footwork, [to close],” said Butler. “It’s not right for somebody to be able to come in and just sweep that out from under your feet because they have more money to play with.”
Lucke said he would be more supportive of the initiative had it originated in-state through a more “grassroots” method.
He said one way the recreational program structure could be enhanced would be to initially distribute recreational licenses to businesses that are currently in the medical program rather than distribute entirely new ones. He said the bill does this in a “half-hearted” way by giving medical distributors a 90 day head start which for the industry is “not much” and just enough time to work out the kinks on the legislative end.
“I would like to see some industry support behind it,” Lucke said. “Where it is now, I can think of a couple guys that are in favor of what’s going on here, but the majority of the industry is just not. I just don’t believe that out-of-state has Montana’s interest at heart.”
Lucke was also concerned with how the initiative would be edited in the State Legislature.
“That’s a whole other thing that we don’t know what’s going to come out of Helena after the passage of the initiative,” Lucke said. “They’ll take an initiative and they’ll build a law around it. I’ve seen them be really great, and I’ve seen them be completely atrocious.”
He said several years ago the legislature tried to ban the whole industry.
“They cranked us back to nothing,” Lucke said. “Not being able to take anything of value for product or have more than three patients. So that was the worst I’ve seen from them.”
Both of them are unsure of what the likelihood of the initiative passing is, but Butler said it may have a good chance of passing if “a lot of people don’t understand the full extent of what they’re voting for.”
As Lucke understands it, if the initiative passes, then it would have to go to the legislature in the spring. A law would then be put in place on top of the initiative based on the public’s preferences. He estimates the absolute earliest recreational usage would be legalized is June.
“I really hope that Montana someday gets a good rec program if that’s the way we want to go, but I just don’t believe this is it,” Lucke said. “I don’t believe that this benefits Montana [and the people of Montana]. I don’t believe it benefits anybody but the people that are paying for it who we don’t know who they are. I got a feeling that [outside parties are] going to come in and they’re going to gather up all the money they can and it’s going to leave. None of the dispensary owners that I know play that kind of game.”
Despite their opposition to certain aspects of the initiative, Lucke and Butler said they do not want to tell people how to vote.
“This is not me saying that I’m against this initiative,” Butler said. “This is me saying I have concerns. And that being said, I can’t tell you I am going to vote for it or against it. I can tell you I will be educating myself before I have to turn my ballot in.”
If the initiative does pass, Lucke said he would be involved in following legislative discussions.
Lucke has been in the cannabis industry since about 2009 although it was not always under the Fat Hippie label. In addition to the Seeley Lake location, he also owns a medical dispensary in Lincoln and an upcoming one in Fort Benton.
Reader Comments(0)