Medical Marijuana Ordinance Drafted

The Valley County commissioners were surprised Tuesday when their regular meeting was attended by about 30 people, mostly from the Fort Peck and Park Grove area. The people were upset when word spread that someone wanted to establish a medical marijuana caregiver business in Park Grove. 

The agenda item for the meeting was not a public hearing on medical marijuana, but whether to hold one. It was clear from the start that the people wanted such a hearing to be held. It was with some difficulty that Commissioner Bruce Peterson restrained speakers from turning the Tuesday meeting into a public hearing.

Peterson said the draft interim zoning ordinance written by County Attorney Nick Murnion would restrict the location, opening, operation and licensing of any medical marijuana operation in the county, outside of the boundaries of Glasgow, Opheim, Nashua and Fort Peck. The number of caregivers and the number of plants in their possession would be frozen at the current level. Existing caregivers would have to certify to the county sanitarian the number of plants in their possession and the number of patients registered to them. The commissioners would study the issue for one year.

The full text of the four-page draft ordinance is available on the home page of the Valley County website: www.valleycountymt.net.

There must be a public hearing on the proposed ordinance. The commissioners set a tentative date for Thursday, Aug. 12, at 10 a.m.

Six people commented for the record, all against a caregiver's setting up a medical marijuana establishment in the residential area of Park Grove. Most seemed to be against medical marijuana in general, but two said it has its uses.

One person asked why the county couldn't adopt the federal stance, that the drug is illegal. The commissioners said that was a good question for the public hearing. 

Montana is one of 14 states that have legalized medical marijuana, going against federal statutes. Initiative 148, which authorized the Medical Marijuana Act, was passed by 62 percent of Montana voters in 2004. As of June 30 there were 19,635 patients with marijuana cards and about 2,800 caregivers in the state. Valley County has 58 registered patients and 19 caregivers, according to the Montana Department of Health and Human Services.

A caregiver can have six plants and one ounce of dried marijuana for each patient he or she has, with no limit on the number of patients. There are no requirements for caregivers, except that they be 18 years old and not be convicted of a felony drug offense.

A physician must certify that a patient has a "debilitating condition" to get a medical marijuana card.

"This is what in Montana has been stretched to the limit," Murnion said. 

He said people have cards because they claim to have a backache, a headache or depression. Many are under the age of 30.

"It raises the suspicion – is it medicinal or to get high?" Murnion said.

An initiative to repeal the Medical Marijuana Act, I-165, failed to get enough signatures to appear on the ballot in November. It needed 24,337 signatures and received 14,068.

"The neighbors are the ones who have set the ball rolling and complained about it," said Valley County Sheriff Glen Meier. "It doesn't basically involve law enforcement." 

He noted that Health and Human Services is charged with inspection of caregivers and the number of marijuana plants they have. The county sanitarian is the local HHS official. 

"This is all in the infancy of how it's evolving," Meier said. "Does a violation go to local law enforcement, the state or a regulatory agency? This is the way our great country works. If the people aren't happy with the situation, legislation will eventually work this out. (Law enforcement) will do what the law prescribes."