Bozeman city officials say they're pleased with the way the city's new medical marijuana laws are working and they hope the Montana Legislature's decisions next year won't change them.
"We're pretty happy with what we put in place," Mayor Jeff Krauss said Tuesday. "Hopefully, they would take note of how well it works here."
Bozeman has issued business licenses to 17 medical marijuana storefronts in the city and 41 caregivers who deliver cannabis to patients in town, according to city business license clerk Carol Neibauer. Another eight applications for storefronts and one application for a growing facility have been submitted to the city for approval.
Krauss said there haven't been any major disagreements between city officials and medical marijuana advocates.
"People have access to medical marijuana and yet it's not visible all over Main Street," he said.
The Bozeman City Commission approved an ordinance in July outlining how medical marijuana can be used, grown and sold in the city. The ordinance established separate licenses for storefronts, growers and delivery services and capped the number of storefronts in the city to 20 for the first year. Only providers with more than three patients are required to have licenses.
In addition, the rules made it a misdemeanor for patients to use medical marijuana in public; offenders could result in a $500 fine and up to six months in jail.
The rules call for a 1,000-foot buffer between schools and cannabis shops, city inspections of shops and a ban on shops on Main Street downtown. Providers are prohibited from operating out of neighborhood homes and growing operations are only allowed on the outskirts of town, in areas zoned residential suburban.
The 2011 Montana Legislature is expected to consider everything from tighter restrictions on medical marijuana to repealing the state's Medical Marijuana Act altogether. The Legislature convenes next month.
Montana voters approved medical marijuana by initiative in 2004. The state had fewer than 4,000 medical marijuana patients a year ago; now, more than 22,000 people have a medical marijuana card.
Bozeman City Commissioner Carson Taylor said he hopes possible restrictions on how people get a card to use medical marijuana don't go too far.
"Based on my conversations with a number of doctors, who I consider to be very straight forward, (marijuana) is a medical treatment that has significant value to some people," Taylor said. "Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater."
Taylor and Krauss said they hope other cities will look at Bozeman's rules as a model for their own.
"We think that we've done a pretty good job of working out what an appropriate city's relationship to this problem is," Taylor said.
The Montana Legislature is also expected to consider whether and how to tax medical marijuana. The state of Colorado has collected more than $2.2 million in sales tax from medical marijuana dispensaries so far this year, according a November article in the Denver Post.
"If (Montana legislators) are going to put a tax on it, I want the local municipalities to get a good share of it - 40 percent or so," Krauss said.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: The Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Author: AMANDA RICKER
Contact: The Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Copyright: 2010 The Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Website: City pleased with how its medical marijuana laws have worked
"We're pretty happy with what we put in place," Mayor Jeff Krauss said Tuesday. "Hopefully, they would take note of how well it works here."
Bozeman has issued business licenses to 17 medical marijuana storefronts in the city and 41 caregivers who deliver cannabis to patients in town, according to city business license clerk Carol Neibauer. Another eight applications for storefronts and one application for a growing facility have been submitted to the city for approval.
Krauss said there haven't been any major disagreements between city officials and medical marijuana advocates.
"People have access to medical marijuana and yet it's not visible all over Main Street," he said.
The Bozeman City Commission approved an ordinance in July outlining how medical marijuana can be used, grown and sold in the city. The ordinance established separate licenses for storefronts, growers and delivery services and capped the number of storefronts in the city to 20 for the first year. Only providers with more than three patients are required to have licenses.
In addition, the rules made it a misdemeanor for patients to use medical marijuana in public; offenders could result in a $500 fine and up to six months in jail.
The rules call for a 1,000-foot buffer between schools and cannabis shops, city inspections of shops and a ban on shops on Main Street downtown. Providers are prohibited from operating out of neighborhood homes and growing operations are only allowed on the outskirts of town, in areas zoned residential suburban.
The 2011 Montana Legislature is expected to consider everything from tighter restrictions on medical marijuana to repealing the state's Medical Marijuana Act altogether. The Legislature convenes next month.
Montana voters approved medical marijuana by initiative in 2004. The state had fewer than 4,000 medical marijuana patients a year ago; now, more than 22,000 people have a medical marijuana card.
Bozeman City Commissioner Carson Taylor said he hopes possible restrictions on how people get a card to use medical marijuana don't go too far.
"Based on my conversations with a number of doctors, who I consider to be very straight forward, (marijuana) is a medical treatment that has significant value to some people," Taylor said. "Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater."
Taylor and Krauss said they hope other cities will look at Bozeman's rules as a model for their own.
"We think that we've done a pretty good job of working out what an appropriate city's relationship to this problem is," Taylor said.
The Montana Legislature is also expected to consider whether and how to tax medical marijuana. The state of Colorado has collected more than $2.2 million in sales tax from medical marijuana dispensaries so far this year, according a November article in the Denver Post.
"If (Montana legislators) are going to put a tax on it, I want the local municipalities to get a good share of it - 40 percent or so," Krauss said.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: The Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Author: AMANDA RICKER
Contact: The Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Copyright: 2010 The Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Website: City pleased with how its medical marijuana laws have worked
