New Approach Montana was a pro-recreational marijuana ballot measure campaign launched for the 2020 election in Montana by New Approach PAC and the Marijuana Policy Project. ¹ New Approach Montana succeeded in its campaign to legalize and tax marijuana sales and consumption for those over the age of 21 with the passage of state measures I-190 and CI-118.

Founding and History

New Approach Montana was founded in 2019 with the backing of New Approach PAC, a political action committee in Washington D.C. focused on marijuana legalization, as well as the Marijuana Policy Project, a tax-exempt organization that likewise advocates for legalized cannabis. New Approach Montana was founded as a state ballot committee with the express purpose of financing a campaign to pass two measures in the 2020 election in Montana: ² Montana I-190 to legalize marijuana and tax nonmedical use at 20 percent, and CI-118, a constitutional amendment to set the legal age of consumption of marijuana at 21 years old. ³

When it was founded, New Approach Montana merged with Coalition406, a Montana-based group that had been advocating for recreational marijuana legalization before the 2020 election. ⁴

Activities

The New Approach Montana marijuana legalization campaign began with town hall meetings to gauge citizen opinions on how cannabis should be legalized in the state. Political director of New Approach Montana Pepper Peterson stipulated that recreational marijuana would only be legal for those 21 and older. ⁵

By January 2020, New Approach Montana filed two initiatives that, together, would legalize recreational cannabis, institute a tax on sales, and limit sales to those above 21. Peterson stated the initiatives were vetted and approved by the Montana Attorney General so as to “closely follow existing Montana law.” ⁶ Proponents claimed that the 20 percent proposed tax on marijuana sales would bring $37 million into the state each year by 2025. ⁷ According to the ballot initiative, revenue from the tax on marijuana sales was to be allocated for addiction treatment services, conservation, wildlife protection, veterans surfaces, the purchase of drug detection dogs, police training, and the state’s general fund. ⁸

The pro-legalization campaign was able to gain the legally required 25,000 signatures to put the initiative on the ballot and 50,000 signatures to put the constitutional amendment on the ballot. ⁹

In the November 2020 election, the ballot initiative to legalize and tax marijuana (I-190) passed 56.9 percent to 43.1 percent, or 341,037 votes to 258,337 votes. ¹⁰ The state constitutional amendment allowing the state legislature to establish a minimum legal age for the possession, use, and purchase of marijuana at 21 years old (CI-118) passed 57.84 percent to 42.16 percent, or 340,847 votes to 248,442. ¹¹ Licenses for recreational marijuana vendors were to be issued by October 2021 at the latest. ¹²

Affiliations

New Approach Montana was funded by out of state groups, including New Approach PAC and Marijuana Policy Project. Pepper Peterson, the political director of New Approach Montana, estimated that the two national organizations supporting cannabis legalization in Montana would provide between $3 million to $6 million to fund the campaign. ¹³

New Approach PAC has also supported drug legalization initiatives in states across the country, including Colorado, South Dakota, North Dakota, Missouri, Oklahoma, the District of Columbia, California, Oregon, Mississippi, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Florida, Michigan, Arkansas, Maine, and Massachusetts. According to Ballotpedia, New Approach PAC’s pro-drug legalization ballot measures have been approved all but two times. ¹⁴

New Approach Montana also received $339,520 from the North Fund, another left-of-center nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. that is part of the multi-billion dollar nonprofit network managed by Arabella Advisors. ¹⁵ North Fund is an umbrella group for left-of-center causes, including legalizing marijuana, overturning abortion restrictions, and abolishing the electoral college. ¹⁶

People

Pepper Peterson was the political director and spokesman for New Approach Montana. ¹⁷ Peterson claimed the ballot initiative legalizing recreational marijuana in Montana would increase state tax revenue, ¹⁸ decrease opioid consumption, ¹⁹ help veterans, ²⁰ create jobs, ²¹ reduce crime, ²² aid job seekers, ²³ and improve environmental conservation. ²⁴

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2. Dennison, Mike. “National Groups to Spend $3M on Campaign to Legalize Marijuana in Montana.” Missoulia Current. October 28, 2019. Archived December 5, 2022. Accessed July 3, 2023. http://web.archive.org/web/20221205015108/https://missoulacurrent.com/montana-recreational-marijuana/?print=print.
3. Iverson, Olivia. “Committee introduces initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana.” NBC Montana. January 14, 2020. Accessed July 3, 2020. https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/committee-introduces-initiatives-to-legalize-recreational-marijuana.
4. Dennison, Mike. “National Groups to Spend $3M on Campaign to Legalize Marijuana in Montana.” Missoulia Current. October 28, 2019. Archived December 5, 2022. Accessed July 3, 2023. http://web.archive.org/web/20221205015108/https://missoulacurrent.com/montana-recreational-marijuana/?print=print.
5. Dennison, Mike. “National Groups to Spend $3M on Campaign to Legalize Marijuana in Montana.” Missoulia Current. October 28, 2019. Archived December 5, 2022. Accessed July 3, 2023. http://web.archive.org/web/20221205015108/https://missoulacurrent.com/montana-recreational-marijuana/?print=print.
6. O’Brien, Edward. “Opponents Mount Last Minute Challenge to Marijuana Legalization.” Montana Public Radio. October 16, 2020. Accessed July 3, 2020. https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2020-10-16/opponents-mount-last-minute-challenge-to-marijuana-legalization.
7. “New Approach PAC.” Ballotpedia. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://ballotpedia.org/New_Approach_PAC.
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15. Mangan, Jeff. “PDF.” Helena: Montana Commissioner of Political Practices, December 28, 2020. Document can be accessed at http://prod.politicalpractices.mt.gov/Portals/144/2020%20Decisions/Zabawa%20v%20North%20Fund_SD.pdf?ver=2020-12-28-113408-787.
16. Parker Thayer, Hayden Ludwig. “Breaking: Arabella’s Left-wing Activist Network Raked in $1.7 Billion in 2020—a ‘Dark Money’ Blowout.” Capital Research Center. Nov. 22, 2021. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://capitalresearch.org/article/breaking-arabellas-left-wing-activist-network-raked-in-1-7-billion-in-2020-a-dark-money-blowout/
17. Iverson, Olivia. “Committee introduces initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana.” NBC Montana. January 14, 2020. Accessed July 3, 2020. https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/committee-introduces-initiatives-to-legalize-recreational-marijuana.
18. “Organized opposition to weed legalization in Montana sprouts up.” Great Falls Tribune. September 11, 2020. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2020/09/11/organized-opposition-weed-legalization-montana-sprouts-up/5772426002/.
19. “Organized opposition to weed legalization in Montana sprouts up.” Great Falls Tribune. September 11, 2020. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2020/09/11/organized-opposition-weed-legalization-montana-sprouts-up/5772426002/.
20. Dennison, Mike. “National Groups to Spend $3M on Campaign to Legalize Marijuana in Montana.” Missoulia Current. October 28, 2019. Archived December 5, 2022. Accessed July 3, 2023. http://web.archive.org/web/20221205015108/https://missoulacurrent.com/montana-recreational-marijuana/?print=print.
21. “Montana I-190, Marijuana Legalization Initiatives (2020).” Ballotpedia. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://ballotpedia.org/Montana_I-190,_Marijuana_Legalization_Initiative_(2020)
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24. “Montana I-190, Marijuana Legalization Initiatives (2020).”  Ballotpedia. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://ballotpedia.org/Montana_I-190,_Marijuana_Legalization_Initiative_(2020)