City tells pot store to relocate

The Libby City Council voted Tuesday to

give a medical marijuana dispensary 60 days to relocate outside the

city limits.

In response, one of its main investors

promised litigation.

“I’m already losing money in this

business, but I’ll lose more money if I have to defend my

patients,” said Kevin Moore, investor and former director of a

group of medical marijuana dispensaries, The Helping Centers of

Montana.

The Helping Center of Libby doesn’t

meet one of the requirements of a city business license, the

council said, because it violates federal law, which reads that

medical marijuana is illegal.

Moore argued that the council shouldn’t

worry about repercussions from the federal government since the

Obama Administration has clearly stated that it would not prosecute

medical marijuana users who comply with state law.

Mayor Doug Roll pointed out many times

throughout the meeting that the merits of medical marijuana and

whether it’s legal were not at issue. Roll said the special meeting

was to determine whether the dispensary met all of the requirements

to possess a city business license.

Councilmembers say they unknowingly

approved a business license for the enterprise this past fall

because the application did not explicitly state it was a medical

marijuana provider, but a “pain clinic.”

The council hopes that a ruling will

soon come back in a similar case in district court between the City

of Helena and a medical marijuana provider.

Sleeping Giant Caregivers is alleging

that a city cannot impose restrictions on a business that is

regulated by the state Department of Health and Human Services. If

Sleeping Giant wins the case, the Libby council may revisit its

decision before two months is up.

“If Helena wins, we’re on good grounds

(for rescinding the license),” councilmember Bill Bischoff said.

“If not, we haven’t caused any damage – they’re still in

business.”

However, the council didn’t schedule

any future meetings about the matter.

“You’re putting me in a difficult

position because I don’t know if I’m supposed to be packing up

after 59 days,” Moore said. “… I’m simply not going to do it. After

59 days I’m going to file an injunction.”

Moore said that the business is

providing a legitimate service to the citizens of Libby. He stated

that he is “$300,000 in the hole” as one of the original investors

of Libby’s dispensary and other regional dispensaries, but that he

keeps them operating for the well-being of patients.

Moore suggested not making a decision

that night, but having the city attorney and the Helping Center’s

legal counsel come up with a mutual solution. The Helping Center of

Kalispell, for example, was grandfathered in until its building

lease is up because it began operating before the City of Kalispell

enacted a moratorium on dispensaries, he said.

“Let us stay for the remainder of our

lease and we’ll move outside the city limits after that,” Moore

requested, adding that the one-year lease agreement for the

building on California Avenue ends in October 2011.

The vote to suspend the business

license passed 4-2, with councilmembers D.C. Orr and Peggy Williams

opposed. Orr argued that there was no reason to suspend or revoke

the license when it would be up for renewal at the beginning of the

year.

“I think revoking a license that we’ve

already given is weak legal grounds when we’re just weeks away from

issuing a new license,” he said. “In those ensuing weeks, we may

have a decision out of Helena which mirrors the situation we have

here, which may save our taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in

legal fees.”

He asked that the council leave its ego

at the door and take time to seek more legal counsel on the

matter.

“Wouldn’t discretion be the better part

of valor at this point?” Orr asked. “We’ve got the Helping Center

saying we’re willing to negotiate with you. Why go to litigation

right off the bat when maybe we still have a chance to iron this

one out?”

The Helping Centers of Montana is a

group of eight separately-registered S corporations. The medical

marijuana clinics are operating in Kalispell, Libby, Bigfork and

Columbia Falls, with new clinics in Eureka, Whitefish, Cut Bank and

Glasgow on the horizon.

Rhonda McDowell-Rowen, the secretary

and treasurer, recently replaced Moore as director of the Helping

Centers.

Upon council questioning, Moore said

that the corporations have both in-state and out-of-state

shareholders, including a local investor from Troy.