Lawmakers weigh Montana bill to standardize cannabis point‑of‑sale warnings and posters

Helena — Lawmakers on the House Business and Labor Committee heard extensive testimony on House Bill 792, a proposal by Representative Laurie Cunningham to require clearer, standardized health warnings and point‑of‑sale posters for cannabis sold in Montana.

Cunningham said the measure grew from conversations with clinicians concerned about cannabis use during pregnancy and the inconsistent warnings she found in dispensaries. The bill would add standardized point‑of‑sale posters with studied graphics (including a yellow triangle caution icon), require clear resource information for people struggling with addiction, require pictorial warnings where effective, and set minimum font‑size and legibility requirements on exit envelopes and packaging. It would also replace the term “cannabinoid hyperemesis” with “excessive vomiting” and add a red label for products above a 10% potency threshold to make potency more visible, Cunningham told the committee.

Proponents included public‑health and clinical witnesses who described rising cannabis exposure among pregnant people and children. Liana Troesh, a mental‑health and addiction counselor with lived experience, cited studies showing public support for warnings and hotline numbers. Dr. Carley Robertson, a general practitioner practicing in Havre, said emergency rooms and nursing homes are seeing problems; pediatric and maternal‑fetal medicine specialists (Dr. Timothy Mitchell, Dr. Kelly Irons) testified on developmental and psychiatric risks for youth and prenatal exposure.

Industry witnesses and technology providers opposed the bill or raised concerns about implementation detail and cost. Online and in‑room opponents — including Sacred Sun Farms’ Antoinette Lininger, route/technology provider Jeff Erickson, and Montana Cannabis Industry Association Executive Kate Holewa — said Montana already has strict labeling requirements enforced by the Cannabis Control Division and argued the bill’s requirements were confusing, duplicative or would create regulatory burdens. Erickson asked how the bill’s requirement for “graphic depictions” (for example, of excessive vomiting or infant hyperactivity) could be interpreted in rule. The Cannabis Control Division administrator, Kristen Barbour, provided the committee with current packaging and label requirements and said some items could be addressed in rulemaking, but changing the universal marijuana symbol could cause significant repackaging costs unless rule language allowed a compatible approach.

Committee members asked about a web or hotline to list on posters; Barbour said no Montana‑specific cannabis hotline exists and the department would likely interpret a non‑specific statutory resource list broadly. Representative Cunningham told the committee she would seek examples of vetted posters and suggested working with SAMHSA or other national resources for a universal link or number. After public and agency testimony, the committee voted to advance HB 792 out of committee during executive action (do‑pass; recorded committee vote: 12 yes, 8 no).