Montana’s cannabis industry last month surpassed $1 billion in total sales since recreational marijuana was legalized in 2022. That’s according to preliminary data collected by the state.

The industry has outpaced sales projections made by economists at the state Legislature and University of Montana.

The three years of sales have generated around $170 million in tax revenue for the state.

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.

“I was working the counter this March and I can tell you that what we see is consistency in customers,” he says.

The Cannabis Guild and other industry trade groups are backing an effort by lawmakers to block issuance of new dispensary licenses for two years. Petersen says the industry’s current footprint of around 500 dispensaries is able to meet market demand.

“I don’t think anybody wants to see a hundred more dispensaries, much less 200, 300. I don’t think the communities want to see that,” he says.

The dispensary cap would allow existing licenses to change hands, but freeze total numbers at current levels until 2027. That bill passed the House and Senate with broad support, and now heads for the governor’s desk.