The State of Montana first legalized cannabis for medical use in 2004, and then in 2020, 57% of voters in Montana approved Initiative 190, which legalized cannabis for adult use. Part of Montana’s adult-use legalization model permits sales of recreational cannabis, with the first legal sales launching in the state in January 2022.
Between January 2022 and June 2025, Montana’s legal cannabis industry sold over $1.1 billion worth of cannabis products, according to the Montana Department of Revenue. Medical cannabis sales totaled over $220 billion, and adult-use cannabis sales totaled over $883 million during that period.
Additionally, between January 2022 and June 2025, Montana’s emerging regulated cannabis industry generated over $185 million in tax revenue for the state. The state’s medical cannabis sector generated over $8 million in taxes, and the recreational sector generated over $176 million during the period.
“The industry has outpaced sales projections made by economists at the state Legislature and University of Montana.” noted Montana Public Radio in its local coverage from earlier this year. “Pepper Petersen is the head of the Montana Cannabis Guild, and owner of a dispensary in Helena. He attributes the industry’s success to a dependable level of consumer demand.”
As previously listed on this website, the first dispersal of Montana’s cannabis industry taxes goes to the Montana Department of Revenue to cover administrative costs. Another $6 million goes to the Heart Fund account, which is ‘an initiative helping people heal and end addiction through recovery and treatment.’ The remainder is distributed to the following:
- 20% to Montana FWP
- 4% to Montana state parks
- 4% to trails and recreational facilities
- 4% to non-game wildlife
- 3% or $200,000 (whichever is less) to Veteran Affairs
- $150,000 to law enforcement
- The rest goes into the general fund
According to a report from earlier this year by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), the legal adult-use cannabis industry in the United States as a whole has “generated a combined total of more than $24.7 billion in tax revenue from legal adult-use cannabis sales since the first adult-use cannabis markets launched in Colorado and Washington in 2014.”
“In 2024 alone, legalization states collectively generated more than $4.4 billion in cannabis tax revenue from adult-use sales, which is the most revenue generated by cannabis sales in a single year. Further, seven states collected over $200 million in adult-use cannabis taxes (four of those states generated over $500 million in revenue, one of which collected over $1 billion).” MPP stated about their analysis.
Currently, 24 states in the U.S. have adopted recreational cannabis legalization measures, and 40 states have adopted medical cannabis legalization measures. Washington D.C. has legalized cannabis for both medical and recreational use.