Libby officials approve local marijuana regulations
Libby City Council gave its initial OK on Feb. 1 to an ordinance regulating marijuana use in the municipality now that recreational use is permitted in Montana.
To arrive at the draft language, officials borrowed heavily from Initiative 190, the marijuana legalization effort voters approved in November. Legalization went into effect Jan. 1, meaning that recreational use became permissible before the state legislature met.
By creating an ordinance related to marijuana use, possession and cultivation locally, officials hope to create a framework for handling cannabis issues until the state codifies its approach.
“What we did, we did with the understanding that the rules regarding personal use and possession and growing hadn’t yet been codified anywhere,” said City Attorney Dean Chisholm. “We took that portion out of I-190 that related to that type of conduct and the civil fines associated with it and turned it into this ordinance so that the city can now enforce those rules until something gets codified.”
Chisholm said there were more than 50 bills pertaining to marijuana legalization before the state legislature.
The city ordinance, which will need a second reading in the coming days, would go into effect March 18. It makes those residents caught growing marijuana within sight of a person on public property subject to a fine of up to $250. An individual caught storing marijuana outside of a locked location would face a fine of up to $250 and seizure of the cannabis.
And those caught smoking marijuana in a public space — sidewalks, streets, alleys, public parking lots, city parks and city property — face a penalty of not more than $50.
There are different penalties for those under the age of 21. If not a registered cardholder, an underage individual caught possessing, using, transporting, delivering or distributing marijuana forfeit the cannabis and face a fine of up to $100 or four hours of drug counseling.
Because the initiative limits possession to an ounce, or eight grams, anyone caught with more faces the loss of the marijuana and a fine of up to $200 or four hours of community service. A second offense earns a fine of up to $300 or six hours of community service. Third and subsequent violations lead to fines of up to $500 or eight hours of community service.
While the ordinance passed unanimously — with City Councilor Hugh Taylor absent and City Councilor Gary Beach suffering computer problems — at least one member of the council critiqued the lack of specific penalties.
City Councilor Rob Dufficy questioned why the penalties associated with violations were left opaque in the wording of the ordinance. Like most other civil penalties, the fines in the ordinance are set at a maximum, with discretion left up to a judge, if necessary, Chisholm said.
Police Chief Scott Kessel said his department planned on handling infractions first with education. Given the newness of legalization, residents may not know that they cannot consume marijuana in public or grow it within sight of the public, he said.
After that, he anticipates issuing a $50 fine for infractions. He pointed to the city’s open container ordinance, which provides a possible penalty of up to $300 for a first offense and a maximum penalty of $500 for a repeat offense.
“We don’t establish a fine there — we also establish a ceiling,” Kessel told city councilors. “What we write is the same thing we write for a parking violation and everything else, a fine in the amount of $50 and the judge can reduce that as he sees fit or raise it.”
In an interview after the meeting, Kessel said he anticipated that enforcement of the marijuana ordinance would not take up an undue amount of his officers’ time. For comparison, the department issued just three tickets for open container violations last year, he said.
“If we see a violation, we’re going to stop and advise [that person],” he said. “If we get a person who says, ‘No I’m not going to put it away’ then OK, let me give you an incentive to put it away. Do I expect an issue with it? I don’t.”
For civil violations, like a $50 ticket for an open container, an individual can either pay it or contest it in front of a judge. If a judge finds the individual guilty, they then have the leeway to set a higher or lower penalty. The violator only runs afoul of criminal law if they refuse to pay the tickets, Kessel said. At that point, a judge could deem them in contempt.
But hopefully people will just follow the rules, he said. If not, the $50 fine is meant to deter them.
“If I write you five tickets over five weeks, it’s going to say $50 on each and if you go into the court and you pay them it’s taken care of,” Kessel said, turning to the open container analogy. “If I catch you every week with a beer, at some point in time is it still worth $50 to stand on the sidewalk with a beer?”