It makes sense for Montana communities to be careful about what sorts of activities are acceptable.  We shouldn’t have to see Montana become California or Colorado on this issue.  But what is it the city actually wants to try and avoid here?  The assumption seems to be that any sort of caregiver business (regardless of professionalism or patient base) belongs with the porn shops. 
If you ask any Drug Task Force detective, you are likely to hear that illegally obtained narcotics are a bigger problem in this state than mj.  Yet there are no efforts underway to restrict the location of pharmacies.  School zones, near churces, no problem!  Where else do the narcotics come from, but from the pharmacies?  It isn’t about the drugs, its about the culture surrounding the drug use.
I would suggest that if there is something that is unique about dispensaries that is to be avoided in our towns, then lets regulate THAT - not simply employ outright prohibition.  “Medicating” in public, inappropriate signage, sufficient minimum emergency plans with law enforcement - those make sense.  Making a caregiver’s often elderly, sick patients go to the “sketchy” parts of town in order to get their medicine is a tragic solution to a problem we don’t yet have.  I hope the counsel will use a scaple, not an axe.

There are the problems that life hands us all.  Then there are the problems that we invent.  Thank you Whitefish for being you. You often bring a smile to this sleepy morning face.

Hi,
This is Mike from The Healing Center Montana the largest non profit collective in the state.
To clarify the answer is Agricultural ,Horticultural or forestry.
I would know as I have that exact document from the secretary of state.
We will be opening soon in your area in a safe secure location for our patients.
Please visit us on the web @ www,Thehealingcentermt.org
Thanks

As far as the zoning issue goes, if a caregiver has half a brain, they won’t be growing or storing the majority of their cannabis where they dispense it; that’s a huge security issue. Have the grow and processing in one area designated as light manufacturing, and have the storefront zoned as a normal retail location. Maybe have a limit of 12 plants in larger than a gallon pots for the storefronts as smaller clones still need to be available.

Mike, I think the issue is more of how do you classify the storefront, not your grow. I honestly think a storefront should operate very similarly to either a pharmacy or a Netherlands coffee shop: the product is stored in smaller daily amounts for customers and the storage and manufacturing is carried on in a completely separate location.

I wholeheartedly agree that restrictions on medicating in front of a caregiver’s storefront (if they have one) and inappropriate signage; requirements for minimum security in the storefront would be a very positive thing. The last thing that most caregivers want to do is to provoke the very people that allow them to conduct business.

One way to avoid any sort of issues with security would be to follow in the footsteps of some Californian towns that require that the security guard of the dispensary to patrol a section of the sidewalk outside while dispersing loitering groups and keeping miscreants at bay. They have found that dispensaries near schools actually keep the area SAFER!

Mike: stop spamming people’s sites with your advertisements, it’s neither cool nor does it help your already extremely poor public image. Just a thought amigo. Oh and I call BS on the non-profit but that’s neither here nor there.

Peace,
Z