County Oks moratorium on new med. Pot operations

The Hill County Commission unanimously placed a ban on new medical marijuana caregiver operations after a public hearing Thursday Commissioners grandfathered existing caregivers provided they register with the county in the next 10 days, although people at the hearing had some questions that remain yet to be answered.

The Commission approved the interim zoning ordinance immediately after the close of the public hearing.

"I feel good about what we're doing," Commissioner Kathy Bessette said, adding, "It's not negative." A common comment from the commissioners and the people at the h e a r i n g wa s that the legalization of medical marijuana in 2 0 0 4 was to o vague and gave little direction to local officials on how to regulate it.

The applicat i o n s — a n d approvals — for people seeking to become qualified patients or caregivers, who can l egal ly provide a l imi t e d amount of marijuana for thei r patients, has skyrocketed in the last 12 months.

The number of approved medical marijuana patients in the state was 842 at the end of 2008, according to the state Department of Public Health a n d H uma n Services website.

That has exploded to 12,381 at the end of last month.

Hill County had 323 listed medical marijuana patients and 31 registered caregivers by June 30, the website says.

Commissioner Mike Anderson said the purpose of the ordinance is to limit the growth of the number of new caregivers while the county looks at what the best action would be, and to give some time to see what action the Legislature and Montana voters take.

The ordinance states that county officials will study the effects on the public welfare of establishments that grow, sell or distribute medical mar i juana or paraphernalia to determine whether new zoning

o r d i n a n c e s should be adopted to regulate the business in the interest of protecting public welfare.

Until new laws are adopted, the ordinance prohibits such establishments except for caregivers who certify their operations within the 10 days and follow all requirements of the 2004 initiative that legalized the use of marijuana for physician-approved medical purposes.

The certification must include the number of qualifying patients to whom each caregiver provides the herb, and the number of plants the caregiver has.

County Planner and Sanitarian Clay Vincent said the county has been exploring for some time instituting county-wide zoning to regulate business and growth, as is used by some other Montana counties. That could be the only way to set how medical marijuana would be regulated in Hill County, he said.

The idea of zoning is to keep like industries together and minimize their impact on residential areas, he added.

"This is a business," Vincent said.

"It needs to be regulated as a zoning issue."

The final rules about regulating the medical marijuana business could come from the Legislature, which is expected to debate the issue and pass legislation in the 2011 session.

Direction could even come from an initiative Montana residents are trying to get on the November ballot which, if approved, would overturn the 2004 initiative and make all marijuana use illegal.

Two caregivers at the hearing applauded the commission's actions, although they also raised some questions that the commi s s ioners could not answer.

Russell "Wayne" Williams Jr.

Of Laurel, who grew up in Hill County, said he plans to move his family back to Hill County in the near future. He asked how he can make sure his existing caregiver business in Laurel could be moved to Hill County with him.

He said he has invested thousands of dollars in his business, and, as a disabled military veteran, there are not many other jobs he can perform. Williams said he wants to be sure he can continue his caregiver business.

"I drove four-and-a-half hours to find out," he said.

The county officials told Williams that he probably would have to work with Public Health and Human Services to enact a change and still register within the 10 days. The county attorneys who worked on the ordinance were not available to come to the hearing, and some questions — like Williams' — probably could not be definitively answered until Monday, they said.

Williams said after the hearing that he wants to work with the government to do his business legally.

"The whole idea of this is supposed to be giving the patients the best possible care," he said.

Deb LaTray said she is willing to register her dispensary with the county, and applauded what the county government is doing.

"I want to be as safe as I can and let my clients get what is legally entitled," she said.

Williams added that he thinks the business can help the state. The intent should be for Montana residents to provide Montana-grown products to Montana citizens.

But some at the meeting wondered what the regulation — and future legislative or initiative action — would mean.

Call Burr asked how many caregivers are allowed in the county.

That is one of the questions that is not yet answered under the 2004 law.

"That is not up to the county," Anderson said.

Val Murri suggested that some limitation should be put in place, perhaps modeled along the lines of the law regulating how many liquor licenses can be issued in a community.

Havre City Council Member Bob Kaul asked what would happen if the Legislature put a limit on the number of clients a caregiver could have, and it is less than they already have.

LaTray said she would reduce the number of clients she cares for, helping the others find new caregivers.

Williams agreed.

"You have to abide by the law," he said.