County Floats Marijuana Ordinance

The Valley County Commissioners met at their normal weekly meeting last Wednesday, Dec. 12, to discuss, in addition to their normal business, plans to seek input from the public regarding future county-wide regulations on the operation of a medical marijuana dispensary inside the county but outside the numerous town and city limits.

According to the discussion held at the meeting, the County had allowed a previous ordinance, which barred the open operation of a dispensary outside the home, lapsed some time ago and the County had not taken up the issue since. Lately, however, Rod Lambert has purchased a building on the outskirts of Glasgow and began renovating that structure for security and storage considerations with the intent of operating a medical dispensary there.

Given the recent arrival of the facility and the owner's plans to begin dispensing his products from the site, the county felt it would be wise to seek the public’s opinion on future regulations.

County Attorney Dylan Jensen offered up the following to the attendees saying, “The way I see is we should solicit comment, roll out an ordinance, then proceed off that first reading.” He stated that the ordinance based on public comment could be one of three approaches. It would either be prohibitive, meaning no one could operate a commercial-based dispensary, it could be limited, meaning they could restrict the number of operations and their presence or it could be allowance-based, meaning they permit any dispensary in the county.

Retiring County Commissioner Bruce Peterson opened the meeting discussing the lack of ordinance and the fact that it was prohibited in the past but drove home the need to understand the public’s views on the issue saying, “Then we have an idea, fully, of what the constituents want.”

Lambert told the attendees at the meeting he has run a medical marijuana dispensary legally out of his home near Fort Peck, Mont. for the last 10 years. “It’s changed a lot in 10 years,” said Lambert, “The state is more invested in the program.” Lambert sought to alleviate concerns about the dispensing of cannabis-based products from his facility. He described security and control measures to include safes, motion-censored security tied directly into the dispatch center, radio frequency tags for each plant and an inventory control system that reports to the state. He also pointed out that the only people allowed in the facility are current medical marijuana card holders assigned to him by the state. Other than to allow those “patients” to enter, the doors are constantly locked and people are not free to come and go as they please.

“It’s not a storefront,” said Lambert pushing back on the idea that people could just enter the facility to shop for cannabis products he added, “It’s more or less a private club.”

Lambert also spent much of the meeting discussing quality control and highlighting the fact that his locally-owned business was filling a need in the area that would merely be taken over by dispensaries in major cities like Billings. His argument was that the business would remain local, and support local people and employees.

He said that he hears of, “[Marijuana] deliverers coming to the city that are not playing by the rules.” At one point he described their operations as, “dumping so much product out the back door,” insinuating that many of the delivering companies may also be selling marijuana illicitly. Lambert described his own practices positively saying, “We’ve been doing this a long time and we follow all the state laws.”

Lambert also revealed that currently he serves over 80 Northeast Montana residents with some of those patrons being from Phillips and Roosevelt Counties but most come from Valley County. Some of those clients he described as being senior citizens, cancer survivors and even aging farmers.

Lambert said the only cannabis products he sells are raw marijuana and THC infused butters, oils and topical ointments. He also informed the commissioners that they were required to meet health inspections and maintain safety guidelines meaning the product must be kept in child-proof containers.

Lambert punctuated his argument for his business’ operations stating, “We understand you need to get the public approval, but we’re just asking for a shot.”

No outright opposition was demonstrated by any of the meetings attendees, but at one point Peterson asked Sheriff Vernon Buerkle if law enforcement was satisfied with the state’s regulations and accounting for medical marijuana to which Buerkle responded, “There are definitely abuses in the system.”

At this point, the County Commissioners are requesting the public send their comments or feedback on the course of action they support whether it be prohibiting dispensaries, limiting them or allowing them in general.

In a letter, which appears on this page, the commissioners state, “Under the state law, cities and counties can adopt ordinances or resolutions prohibiting providers from operating dispensaries or as storefront businesses within their jurisdictional boundaries or, provide for regulations such as inspection of premises and labs. The City of Glasgow currently has an ordinance prohibiting dispensaries in the city limits. The options available to the county under the state law range from no ordinance to prohibiting all dispensaries.”

From here the commissioners will hold hearings for the first and second readings of the ordinance, which are scheduled for Jan. 14 and Jan. 28, at 6:30 p.m., in the county courtroom. Anyone seeking to provide input should do so before the first reading by calling the commissioner’s office at 228-6219, or sending an email to [email protected]. It is also possible to walk into the commissioners’ office to provide input in person.