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COA explainer · United States

Montana: from grow to dispensary, what the label has to show

Play it: a harvest lot moves through Montana’s workflow on the left, and each required label piece snaps onto the package on the right, color-coded by who adds it.

Sample data · Montana (Department of Revenue, MCA 16-12, ARM 42.39) · for illustration

Published

🏷️ The product label, building live

Big Sky Farms · Glacier Haze
Marijuana Flower (adult use), 3.5 g
Fictional sample label for illustration, not a compliant, printable label.
🌱 Cultivator adds it🔬 Lab / COA adds it🏪 Dispensary adds it🏛️ Department of Revenue (always required)
The big idea: Montana puts the lab in charge of the sample: only a testing laboratory may collect it, from test batches of 5 pounds or less, with the licensee watching but not touching, and a failed batch is retested at the same lab unless the department agrees otherwise. The result reaches the shopper directly: every label must carry a QR code that opens the COA, next to a yellow MARIJUANA triangle, and adult-use flower is capped at 35% total THC.

Sample label for illustration, not a compliant, printable label. Montana rules (Department of Revenue, MCA Title 16 ch. 12, ARM 42.39), current October 2026. Educational, not legal advice.

Step by step: Montana

  1. Step 1: Harvest lot, one strain (Cultivator) A licensed cultivator records the harvest in Metrc, Montana’s seed-to-sale system, and splits each harvest lot into test batches of 5 pounds or less. Since February 2025 a harvest lot may hold only one strain. This becomes the label’s Metrc ID, strain name and harvest date.
  2. Step 2: The lab comes to sample (Testing laboratory) Only a testing laboratory may collect samples. Its sampler checks at least one batch’s weight against Metrc (more than 10% off and sampling stops), and the licensee’s employee watches but may not help. Kief or solvent on flower, or anything added to raise a cannabinoid result, counts as adulteration: the lab must refuse the sample and report it.
  3. Step 3: ISO 17025 testing (Testing laboratory) The lab must hold ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation for every required method. Flower is tested for potency, filth and foreign matter, moisture (fail above 15%), STEC, Salmonella and four Aspergillus molds, mycotoxins and pesticides. Heavy metals are tested at random.
  4. Step 4: COA and Metrc (Testing laboratory) The lab issues a certificate of analysis and reports the results to Metrc. Potency must list THCA, THC, total potential psychoactive THC, CBDA and CBD. This unlocks the label’s cannabinoid panel and the QR code that opens the COA.
  5. Step 5: Pass / fail (Department of Revenue) A licensee may ask the lab to resample within 7 days of a failure, with results due within 10, and a retest happens at the same lab unless the department agrees otherwise. A remediated batch that fails again is destroyed, except for moisture or solvent failures, which allow two tries.
  6. Step 6: Package + label, preapproved (Cultivator) Every package and label design is approved by the Department of Revenue before sale. The label carries the yellow MARIJUANA triangle (at least 0.33 inch), the line “This product has been tested and meets the requirements of the state of Montana.”, a QR code to the COA, a facts panel and the warnings.
  7. Step 7: Dispensary sale (Dispensary) Adult-use flower may not exceed 35% total potential THC; stronger products go only to registered medical cardholders, labeled “For medical use only”. Sales leave in opaque, child-resistant exit packaging that carries the warnings and a state QR code to addiction-help resources.

Frequently asked questions

Who tests cannabis in Montana?
A testing laboratory licensed by the Montana Department of Revenue and accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 for every required method. For flower it runs potency, filth and foreign matter, moisture, microbes (STEC, Salmonella and four Aspergillus species), mycotoxins and pesticides, with heavy metals tested at random. The lab issues the certificate of analysis and reports the results to Metrc, the state's seed-to-sale system.
Who pulls the sample in Montana?
The lab does. Montana's rules say only a testing laboratory may collect samples. Its sampler takes random increments from test batches of 5 pounds or less, checks at least one batch's weight against Metrc, and must refuse samples that look adulterated, for example flower dusted with kief. An employee of the licensee watches the sampling but may not help.
What has to be on a cannabis label in Montana?
The strain and product name, the Metrc ID tied to the final-form test, the harvest date, net weight in US and metric units, a QR code linking to the COA, the yellow MARIJUANA triangle, the line "This product has been tested and meets the requirements of the state of Montana.", the warnings, and for flower a facts panel with total THC, THC, THCA, CBD and CBDA.
Can I get my own cannabis tested in Montana?
Montana law lists it among a testing laboratory's duties: besides compliance samples from cultivators and manufacturers and samples the state collects during inspections, a licensed lab shall test samples submitted by consumers or registered cardholders. Every product sold in a dispensary must already have passed testing, and its label carries a QR code to the certificate of analysis.
What is the THC limit on Montana flower?
For adult-use sales, the total potential psychoactive THC of flower may not exceed 35%, and a single package is limited to 1 ounce. Dispensaries may sell stronger products only to registered medical cardholders, and those labels must say "For medical use only" and that the product is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Keep reading

How to read a cannabis label Terpene glossary Every COA explainer
Educational information only, not medical advice. Terpene and cannabinoid effects are an active area of research and vary by person, product, and dose. Cannabis is for adults 21+ where legal.

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