HEARING SET IN MARIJUANA LAWSUIT AGAINST CITY

A District Court judge has scheduled a hearing for Aug. 5 to
consider the validity of an emergency ordinance passed by the city of
Billings that prohibits the storefront sales of medical marijuana.

Judge Gregory Todd set the hearing after granting a temporary
restraining order requested by William M. Reid, who with other unnamed
medical marijuana providers filed a lawsuit against the city earlier
this month.

The temporary restraining order prevents the city from enforcing the
emergency ordinance passed by the City Council on July 1.

The lawsuit alleges that the ban on storefront medical marijuana sales
was not an emergency as defined by city codes. Such emergencies
include "medical, law enforcement emergencies or urgent matters
created as a result of fires, floods or natural disasters," it states.
"Uniformly, an emergency is a serious unexpected and often dangerous
situation."

The ban on marijuana sales does not constitute such an emergency,
according to a brief submitted by Reid's attorney, Chris Lindsey.

Lindsey also argues in court records that the ban is "overly broad,
and seeks to prohibit all business activity related to providing
medical marijuana to qualified medical marijuana cardholders, in spite
of a recent determination by a Montana court that such activity is a
right under the Montana Constitution."

The Billings City Council began debating a ban on storefront medical
marijuana sales after the 2011 Legislature passed a law creating
strict restrictions on such businesses.

A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new state law
resulted in a judge striking several key provisions. But the judge did
not alter a section of the law that authorizes local governments to
prohibit storefront sales.

The emergency ordinance in Billings affects about 16 storefront
businesses, the lawsuit filed by Reid alleges.