Legal Expert: Issue Is One of Many That May End Up in Courtroom

MEDICAL-POT USERS, LANDLORD CLASH

A Billings couple who have medical-marijuana cards say their landlord
is breaking the law by not allowing them to smoke pot in their apartments.

But the landlord says the marijuana smoke could harm other tenants in
the building and the renters could consume the drug some other way.

"They don't have the right to endanger other people in the complex,"
said Linda Lane, a property manager with Metro Property Management.
"If you had a small child, would you want to live next to them?"

Hanna Bach and Aaron Cooper rent separate units in the same North
Side apartment building. Bach and Cooper are engaged and recently
decided to move into a larger unit together.

Before Metro inspected their apartments as part of the moving
process, they warned the company that inspectors might find marijuana.

"We told them up front about the marijuana," Bach said. "We're
law-abiding citizens. We have our licenses."

The renters were surprised by Metro's response. First, they were told
they could not have any pot at all, Cooper said.

After providing the property management company with copies of their
medical-marijuana cards and the Montana law that permits the use of
pot for medical reasons, they were told they could have marijuana but
could not smoke it, Cooper said.

"The smoke permeates into the air and affects other people," said
Lane, who does not personally oppose the use of medical marijuana.
"They could take it in pill form."

Landlords across the state are just beginning to feel the impact of
the medical-marijuana law, said Ron Trippet, western vice president
of the Montana Landlords Association.

Because of the disparity between state and federal law -- marijuana
is still illegal in the federal system -- the association does not
have an official position on the issue, Trippet said.

"It's so fuzzy," he said. "There are so many loopholes."

Cooper and Bach say Metro shouldn't be able to tell them how to take
a medicine that is legal under state law. Cooper uses marijuana to
ease muscle spasms, and Bach is being treated for cancer.

"I prefer to smoke it," Cooper said. "It's easier and faster."

Besides, they say, they are allowed to smoke cigarettes in their apartments.

Lane said Metro allows tenants to smoke tobacco because tobacco is
legal under state and federal laws.

That argument might not hold up in a Montana court, said Carl Jensen
Jr., a Great Falls attorney who specializes in medical-marijuana issues.

Montana courts would apply Montana law to a medical-marijuana case,
not federal law, Jensen said.

A landlord might convince a court that she has the right to prohibit
smoking medical marijuana in a rental unit if other tenants have
complained about the smoke, Jensen said.

And if cigarette smoke is not allowed, medical marijuana smoke
probably can be banned too, he said.

"Landlords will start putting it into their leases," Jensen said.
"People might want to litigate that, too."

"There are all sorts of little issues that are going to have to be
weighed by courts," he said.

Cooper and Bach say they might take Metro to court. Meanwhile, they
have begun looking for another place to live.

A week after the medical-marijuana issue came up, Metro sent them
letters saying no smoking of any kind would be allowed in their
apartments beginning next month.