Passing with 57% approval, the initiative legalized recreational marijuana in the state effective January 1, 2021.

Along with Arizona, New Jersey and South Dakota, Montana was one of four states that legalized cannabis via ballot measures in the November 2020 election.

[4] Following a lawsuit and a declaration from the Montana Supreme Court, the Montana Secretary of State determined that mail-in voter signatures would be allowed for all initiatives without requiring notary seal,[5][1] and starting May 9, the sponsors made a downloadable mail-in form available.

[6] On June 19, groups collecting voter signatures for the legalization initiative said they had submitted almost twice the minimum to the Secretary of State by the deadline.

[7] The sponsors announced in July that they had reached the threshold for ballot inclusion, based on county-level voter certification.