Great Falls, Montana Takes a Stand Against Housing and Jobs for Medical Marijuana Patients

The city of Great Falls, Montana is taking a hard line against workers in the city who also happen to be medical marijuana users. The city has a Drug-Free Workplace Act from 1998 that currently does not include marijuana. Since the state’s medical marijuana act has a provision that says employers are not required to accommodate use of medical marijuana in the workplace, both the city statute and a recent ordinance banning marijuana will be updated. According to Jim Santoro, the city attorney for Great Falls, the new guidelines will be based on the state’s medical marijuana provision and federal standards which identify marijuana as an illegal substance.

This week Santoro said to KRTV news, “Make no mistake, the revision is now ongoing and medical marijuana use in the work place in the city of Great Falls will not be tolerated.” The Montana Chamber of Commerce is also working to ban medical marijuana in the workplace. The chamber is taking the issue to the Montana Legislature in January with a new bill they are drafting. The new legislation will expand the medical marijuana act to protect employers from wrongful discharge suits if an employee is fired for medial marijuana use. The bill draft also addresses marijuana’s effect on work performance even if used off the job site. Great Falls Chamber Vice President Tom Alfrey said, “Our concern is for our businesses and for their use of any kind of drug in the workplace and how that impacts employee drug testing and how that impacts the law as far as how they enforce that.” The bill would also prohibit employees who drive as part of work to use or possess medical marijuana as well as employees who instruct or supervise minors.

And the tide of marijuana acceptance in Great Falls isn’t getting any easier for medical marijjuana patients when it comes to houseing either. Landlords are turning to the legislature to make sure they’re protected when it comes to medical marijuana. The Income Property Managers and Owners group of Great Falls brought a list of concerns to a top city official during a downtown meeting on Tuesday night. They wanted to know if property damage from growing cannabis could be construed as intentional and charged as a criminal offense, others were curious how “no smoking” rules apply to those that smoke medical marijuana. The group brought in City Commissioner and former Police Chief Bob Jones to address the concerns. When asked why the group brought in thier own expert to discuss the issues, Group President Gary Sorum said, “We have a guest speaker and we have been fortunate enough to have the top speakers in the community speak about issues dealing with landlords.”

Some of the 35 members present suggested a permitting process be put in place so law enforcement and property managers know who is in possession of medical cannabis. City Commissioner Jones said that current medical marijuana cardholders are not required to notify any government agency about their status or possession; but he says that may be addressed in new legislation. Commissioner Jones told the group he will make sure to pass along bill drafts as he gets them to make sure members are kept abreast of the process as it unfolds.