Commissioners pass marijuana zoning ordinance for county

A small round of applause broke out on Tuesday afternoon at the Phillips County Courthouse following a unanimous, 3-0 vote by the Phillips County Commissioners to approve an ordinance prohibiting the growth, sale and distribution of medical marijuana or paraphernalia outside the incorporated boundaries of the City of Malta, Town of Saco, or Town of Dodson.

A total of 10 members of the public - most from the town of Landsuky - were in attendance at the meeting and all voiced their support of the commissioners approving the ordinance. Many in attendance were concerned that a medical marijuana provider had already moved into the town and wondered if the ordinance would outlaw the already existing business.

"This ordinance will eliminate all marijuana shops in the county," Phillips County Commissioner Richard Dunbar said. "We are hoping this will work."

Commissioner Dunbar stressed that ordinance only covers the unincorporated locations in Phillips County and not the Towns of Dodson and Saco and the City of Malta. Commissioner Dunbar also said that the enforcement of the new ordinance will be up to the Phillips County Attorney and the Phillips County Sheriff's Office, though he wasn't sure what the penalty would be for not following the law of the ordinance.

"I appreciate you taking some kind of action," one Landusky man said.

One Landusky resident said that she felt that burglaries have been on the rise since the medical marijuana provided came to Landusky (about six months ago) and another said she lives by herself and all the new traffic in the area at night has her concerned.

"It's like they are casing places and it scares me," she said. "I was never scared living out there before."

"And, if they were legal (medical marijuana) card holders, I would think they would go during the day, but most of the business seems to happen in the dark," the first woman added. "So to me, it's not legal (card holders) out there."

Aside from the 10 residents in attendance, County Commissioner Bruce Christofferson said that the commissioner's office had also received seven letters on the topic (six in favor of the ordinance and one against) and said that the office had received many calls on Monday morning, all but one in favor of the ordinance.

As far as the Phillips County Commissioners know, there aren't currently any other medical marijuana providers in the county.

"And this will stop them before they start," Commissioner John Carnahan said.

Commissioner Dunbar said that the ordinance would be permanent unless the County Commissioners disbanded it in the future (which he didn't think was very likely.) Commissioner Dunbar also expressed how pleased he was that people showed up for the public comment portion of the day's meeting.

"I would like to thank you guys for coming and voicing your opinions," he said, "it makes our decision a lot easier."

"Thank you for listening to us," one woman said.

This Resolution specifically prohibits any new or lawfully existing medical marijuana provider or marijuana-infused products provider from establishing a new dispensary or grow operation, or expanding the number of plants currently growing on the property, the ordinance states. This prohibition shall not apply to a registered cardholder who possesses not more than four mature marijuana plants, twelve seedlings and one ounce of usable marijuana as provided by the Act, nor shall it apply to a provider, already registered with the Phillips County Sanitarian and in operation at their designated location on the date of this Ordinance, who possesses not more than four mature marijuana plants, twelve seedlings and one ounce of usable marijuana solely for each of his or her registered cardholder's use or as provided in the Montana Marijuana Act.