Montana Laws and Programs

Mexican drug trafficking organizations provide most of the methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin used in Montana: sources of supply include Colorado, the Pacific Northwest, the southwest, and Mexico. Methamphetamine is also produced in small local labs and some marijuana is grown locally. Club drugs are supplied primarily from the Seattle, Washington, area, and most traffickers are young white males. In 2007 federal drug seizures in Montana included 333.1 kilograms of marijuana, 3.4 kilograms of methamphetamine, and 2,567 dosage units of MDMA (ecstasy).

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in Montana and is widely available throughout the state, most frequently “B.C. Bud” or “Kind Bud” from the Pacific Northwest and western Canada. Methamphetamine is the most significant drug problem in Montana, according to law enforcement officials, [Page 530]although seizures and arrests related to meth as well as discovery of clandestine labs is declining (there were only seven meth lab incidents in 2007, versus 56 in 2003). While this decrease may indicate decreasing production of methamphetamine, it also may be due to a change in how methamphetamine is processed as producers move away from larger operations to more mobile, smaller operations that are more difficult to detect. Cocaine is not widely available throughout Montana: the primary locations of use are Billings, Great Falls, and the Black-feet Indian Reservation. Heroin is rarely encountered by law enforcement officials except in the city of Missoula. Club drugs such as MDMA are found largely in college campuses and large cities, with LSD, GHB, and ketamine use primarily limited to college campuses. Diversion of prescription drugs is a problem in Montana, with the most common drugs being OxyContin (oxycodone), Dilaudid (hydromorphone hydrochloride), and other opiate painkillers.

In 2005–06, 10.65 percent of Montana residents over age 12 reported illicit drug use in the previous month, most commonly marijuana (10.65 percent). Just over 14 percent reported marijuana use in the past year, with the second most common type of drug abuse being nonmedical use of pain relievers (5.4 percent in the past year). Marijuana is also the most common illicit drug used by high school students in Montana: in 2007, 39.1 percent reported using marijuana in their lifetime (9.5 percent with first use before age 13) and 21.0 percent reported using marijuana in the previous month. The second most common drug was inhalants (16.2 percent lifetime use) followed by cocaine (8.3 percent lifetime use) and ecstasy (6.0 percent lifetime use).

In 2006 there were 6,502 drug offenses in Montana. The most common drug involved was marijuana (41 percent), followed by narcotics (20 percent), and methamphetamine (16 percent). More than a quarter (28.1 percent) of federally sentenced defendants in FY 2007 committed drug offenses, and 68.9 percent of those involved methamphetamine.