Montana AG Fields Question About Legal Versus Illegal Marijuana

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen answered questions from KGVO listeners for a full hour on Monday, but perhaps one of the most interesting was about whether legal cannabis shops could be selling illegal marijuana.

The answer was a resounding ‘no’.

AG Austin Knudsen on Legal vs Illegal Marijuana

Knudsen began by saying the Montana Department of Justice has little to do with the legal marijuana dispensaries, with one exception.

“Whenever one of those new dispensaries or old dispensaries pops up or gets recertified, we have to come check it for fire code, which is a huge thing,” began Knudsen. “Those shops and clinics are a tremendous fire risk, and a lot of those were not up to code for wiring, and that's a real risk.”

Some Illegal Marijuana Trafficking Still Occurs in Montana

Knudsen said that even though there are more than 50 legal cannabis dispensaries, trafficking in illegal marijuana still occurs.

“Do we still see illegal marijuana? You bet we do,” he said. “We see a lot of it. All of these states that have legalized marijuana and taxed it, here’s what happens. When you tax it to a certain level, you are going to push a certain portion of that market back into the illicit sales rather than pay taxes.”

However, he said decidedly that no illegal marijuana is being sold in Missoula’s cannabis dispensaries.

The Department of Revenue Closely Tracks All Legally Grown Marijuana

“The answer to that is a pretty unequivocal ‘no’, and there is actually a quite robust system in place,” he said. “The Department of Revenue literally tracks the genetics of these plants. Believe me, they know. I toured these things myself, so I know a little bit what I'm talking about. I mean, they literally know what strains are being grown, what's legal, what's not legal, and that's a good thing.”

READ MORE: City pauses new pot dispensaries, sanctions for underage sales

Knudsen said the illegal marijuana being sold in Montana can be very dangerous to use.

“We've seen shipments of illicit marijuana in Montana laced with fentanyl,” he said. “You're not getting that at your legal dispensaries. Whatever you think about marijuana, and I'm not a marijuana proponent, however, it's legal, and it's my job to enforce the law. We have not seen any instance that I'm aware of illicit marijuana making its way into the legal marijuana supply chain.”