BOZEMAN MEDICAL MARIJUANA ORDINANCE TAKES EFFECT

A city ordinance outlining how cannabis can be used, sold and grown
within the city took effect at midnight Tuesday.

As of today, it's illegal in Bozeman to use medical marijuana in
public.

A city ordinance outlining how cannabis can be used, sold and grown
within the city took effect at midnight Tuesday.

As part of the regulations, anyone displaying or consuming medical
marijuana in an "open or visible manner" is subject to a penalty of up
to a $500 fine and/or six months in jail.

But City Attorney Greg Sullivan said Tuesday that he doesn't expect
there will be a rash of tickets handed out for the offense.

"It's not something that (police) say they see a lot of," Sullivan
said.

Another aspect of the ordinance that takes effect today prevents any
one else from applying within the next year to open a medical
marijuana storefront.

"As of the end of business today, we've hit the cap and we are not
going to accept any more applications for storefronts," Sullivan said
Tuesday afternoon.

The Bozeman City Commission stipulated in the ordinance that only 20
cannabis stores be allowed in the city for the first year in order to
see how they work out before allowing any more.

However, because the commission also agreed to process any
applications for storefront licenses received prior to the ordinance
taking effect, Bozeman may wind up with more than the cap.

In the past few days, several people have rushed to turn in
applications, Sullivan said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, city staff had approved 13 applications for
storefronts and was reviewing nine more. Sullivan said it's possible
the city will approve all nine, and any others received by the end of
Tuesday.

In addition to needing a license to operate a storefront, the
ordinance requires medical marijuana providers to have a license to
grow or deliver cannabis in the city.

Sullivan said the city has issued 25 delivery licenses and has another
13 under review.

Only one person has applied for a license to grow marijuana in the
city.

The ordinance calls for a 1,000-foot buffer between schools and
cannabis shops, city inspections of shops and a ban on shops on Main
Street downtown.

Existing rules prohibit providers from operating out of neighborhood
homes and only allow growing operations on the outskirts of town, in
areas zoned residential suburban, where agricultural uses are allowed.