Interim committee weighs a public marijuana data dashboard and $1M prevention program

Legislative staff on Thursday presented two connected proposals aimed at tracking and responding to recreational cannabis use in Montana: (1) a public marijuana data dashboard maintained by Legislative Services to aggregate available indicators, and (2) a $1 million‑a‑year prevention education program to be administered or overseen by the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS).

The data dashboard draft would compile de‑identified indicators organized by age and county where possible: patterns of use, emergency department visits and hospitalizations related to cannabis, poison‑control calls, sales and product‑type data (including THC concentration), licensee counts and criminal‑justice statistics tied to toxicology testing. Staff cautioned that some sales and product‑level data are not routinely published by the Department of Revenue for privacy reasons and that procuring them would require data‑sharing agreements and a fiscal commitment.

Legislative Services offered a lower‑cost "handshake" option to publish a public dashboard built from already‑available, de‑identified data sources at no bill‑driven cost. The committee directed staff to proceed with a handshake prototype for July and to pursue a refined draft bill that narrows requirements and clarifies privacy expectations if the committee wants a statutory mandate.

On prevention, a second draft would establish a statewide Marijuana Prevention Education Program and direct $1,000,000 annually to it — either via the HEART (Healing and Ending Addiction through Recovery and Treatment) Fund or directly from the marijuana state special revenue account. The program would inventory existing prevention programming, scale evidence‑based interventions, develop population‑specific toolkits (parents, youth, providers, retail staff, justice personnel and tribal communities), and use measurable outcomes. Committee members favored HEART Fund resources over general revenue and suggested DPHHS could run the program in‑house to accelerate launch and reduce repetitive contracting steps.

Researchers and public‑health groups urged a careful, methodical approach to data collection and showed an active university dashboard that can ingest additional validated sources. Leanna Troesh of Safe Montana and researchers from the University of Montana both urged that the dashboard track product types and THC potency because preliminary industry reporting suggests concentrates and high‑potency products account for the majority of sales.

Committee members discussed cadence and cost. Staff recommended an initial impact report from DPHHS in September 2028 to allow time for data collection and analysis; members flagged the possibility of biennial (every other year) reporting for deeper, survey‑based findings. Fiscal details remain under development; staff will return at the July meeting with a 'handshake' prototype and a more narrowly drafted bill for committee review.

What's next: Legislative Services will begin a public‑data dashboard prototype and report progress in July; staff will also refine proposed statutory language and coordinate with DPHHS and the Department of Revenue on feasible data‑sharing arrangements and a funding plan for the prevention program.