Politics
People Could Use Marijuana In Public Housing Under New Congressional Bill
People living in federally assisted housing would be allowed to use marijuana in compliance with state law under a bill introduced by Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) on Thursday.
Current law prohibits those who use a federally illicit substance from being admitted into public housing, and landlords are able to evict such individuals. The congresswoman’s legislation is designed to protect people living in public housing or Section 8 housing from being displaced for using cannabis in states that have legalized for medical or adult use.
“Individuals living in federally funded housing should not fear eviction simply for treating their medical conditions or for seeking a substance legal in their state,” Norton said in a press release. “Increasingly, Americans are changing their views on marijuana, state by state, and it is time that Congress caught up with its own constituents.”
“With so many states improving their laws, this issue should have broad bipartisan appeal because it protects states’ rights,” she said.
The bill would also require the head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to enact regulations to restrict smoking marijuana at these facilities in the same way that it does for tobacco.
“For the last several years, Congress has prohibited the Department of Justice from using federal funds to prevent jurisdictions from implementing their medical marijuana laws,” the congresswoman said in remarks prepared for the Congressional Record. “This bill would similarly allow individuals to use marijuana in federally assisted housing in compliance with the state’s marijuana laws.”
Norton introduced an earlier version of the Marijuana in Federally Assisted Housing Parity Act last year, but it did not receive a hearing or vote.
At least one HUD official, who oversees New York and New Jersey, has signaled an interest in amending federal law so that people who use cannabis retain the ability to live in federally assisted housing. Regional officer Lynne Patton tweeted last year that “[s]tate & federal law needs to catch up with medicinal marijuana usage & require private landlords to legally permit the same. Period.”
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Photo courtesy of WeedPornDaily.
