Martin Kidston
(Missoula Current) Citing public health concerns, the Missoula City Council on Monday night adopted a resolution placing a moratorium on accepting new business licenses for recreation pot dispensaries and set a public hearing for several other issues on the matter.
On an 8-3, council approved the temporary moratorium and called for a review of public health concerns regarding the large number of marijuana dispensaries in the city. While public health officials have said a city the size of Missoula should have between five to 12 dispensaries, the city is currently home to 51 businesses.
Another eight are in the pipeline for approval. Missoula ranks near the top nationally in its number of pot dispensaries per capita.
“This is a temporary moratorium on business licenses – not a permanent one – to get our zoning in place. That conversation will happen this fall via code reform,” said council member Gwen Jones. “We went from zero recreational dispensaries and now we have 51. We need to focus on what we can control until the community gets up to speed on this issue and parents and families become more aware of it.”
Health professionals over the past few weeks have worked to dispel myths that marijuana
