[420 Girl]

Montana- Following sometimes emotional comments, Great Falls city commissioners Tuesday night slapped a three-month moratorium on medical marijuana businesses in the city limits.

"Everybody has their particular opinions about marijuana," Commissioner Bill Bronson said. A 2004 public vote in Montana allowed medical marijuana use, but city government has the right to regulate where marijuana businesses will go, he said.

Bronson said the community "should just step back for a minute" to research the issue.

The 4-1 vote was supported orally by only five members of the public at the packed house. City Commissioner Mary Jolley voted no, saying the moratorium could prevent some patients from obtaining the marijuana they need.

More than a dozen other speakers at a public hearing opposed the moratorium, saying it is unfair or not needed. More than 100 people attended the night meeting.

Downtown businessman Tim Spencer, who hoped to rent space to two medical marijuana caregivers, suggested the city allow temporary permits for existing medical marijuana businesses.

"I really don't see why everything has to be halted," Spencer said.
Acting City Attorney Chad Parker said such a move could give current caregivers legal advantages over future businesses.

Planning Director Michael Haynes said more research is needed regarding the location of these business, noting the city wants to do things right in advance. Haynes said officials were being cautious, in part, because they do not want "state law to be used as a cover for criminal activity." He said none of the current medical marijuana businesses in the city had obtained city safety inspection certificates, which they would need to conduct business in Great Falls.

Dr. Paul Gorsuch, a neurosurgeon, questioned why a larger-than-expected number of Montanans in their 20s have received medical marijuana cards from the state. He said he believed some people are lying to doctors to obtain marijuana for recreational use.

Paint shop owner Ben Forsyth warned about a potential community backlash against irresponsible marijuana use, while Don Johnson said he did not want medical-marijuana businesses near his martial arts school.

A handful of people spoke for the ban, prompting some grumbling in the crowd of more than 100 people. Most spectators opposed the moratorium, and greeted moratorium opponents with applause and cheers.

Opponents offered a variety of approaches, including an understated talk by Jason Christ, who said he drove from Missoula to Great Falls to speak Tuesday. Christ said he runs the Montana Caregivers Network, and has been helped by medical marijuana in dealing with pain caused by celiac disease.
Attorney Carl Jensen urged the city to defeat a moratorium for business reasons.

"Allow capitalism to run its normal course," Jensen said.
Fighting back tears, Pam Birchard said marijuana caregivers should be allowed in commercial and mixed-use districts, and marijuana growing should be allowed in agricultural-zoned areas.

"We are not trying to be a blight on the community," Birchard said.
Leon Tirums, a caregiver, said a moratorium will pose "a big hardship on patients and caregivers."

Other medical-marijuana caregivers also expressed worry Tuesday about the city moratorium, including Brandon Peressini, a co-owner of a medical marijuana business in the Columbus Center for half a year Peressini said his business hoped to expand to occupy the unused seventh floor of the building, but the moratorium could cause his business irreparable damage. If the moratorium called for him to move his growing operation in the winter months, the plants would be "shocked" and likely die. The business, called Medical Marijuana of Montana, has more than 100 clients, he said.

One caregiver complained he was told by Cascade County he could locate outside the city in an I-2 heavy industrial zone.

"We can't do anything with the county," Commissioner Mary Jolley said.


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