Cory Booker Moves To Protect Weed Rights In Federally Funded Housing: 'No One Should Face Eviction... For Legally Using Marijuana'

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) on Thursday reintroduced a measure that would protect marijuana consumers in legal states who live in federally funded housing. 

The bill, titled The Marijuana in Federally Assisted Housing Parity Act, would permit the use of marijuana in federally assisted housing, including public housing and Section 8 housing, in compliance with the laws of the state where the property is located.

"This legislation challenges the discriminatory practices that still negatively impact tenants in federal housing programs, and ensures that personal choices made in accordance with state law are protected,"  Booker stated. "No one should face eviction or be denied housing for legally using marijuana or treating a medical condition in states where it is permitted."

Under current federal law, landlords can evict residents of federally assisted housing for cannabis use, even when the property is located in states that have legalized the plant. Both recreational and medical use of marijuana are legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C., and over 90% of Americans support legalizing medical cannabis. 

“Individuals living in federally assisted housing should not be denied admission or fear eviction simply for treating their medical conditions or using a substance legal under state law,”  Congresswoman Norton said in a statement. “Increasingly, Americans are changing their views on marijuana, 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.”

Bill Summary 

The Marijuana in Federally Assisted Housing Parity Act would:

• Amend the United States Housing Act to prohibit legal action against tenants in federal housing that are taking part in the sale, distribution, use, or possession of marijuana in compliance with the law of the state in which the manufacture, sale, distribution, use, or possession takes place.
• Restrict a public housing agency or an owner of federally assisted housing from establishing standards prohibiting admission to the federal housing program or admission to federally assisted housing for any household with a member who engages in the use, distribution, possession, sale, or manufacture of marijuana that complies with the law of the State.
• Direct HUD to issue regulations that restrict smoking marijuana in federally assisted housing in the same manner and same locations as the Secretary restricts smoking tobacco in public housing.

See Also: DOJ To Federal Court: Don’t Disrupt DEA’s Rescheduling Process, Drop Cannabis Industry Lawsuit — Legal Tug-Of-War Continues

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