Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-DC are reintroducing legislation to allow those living in federally-assisted housing to use marijuana according to state law without having to fear losing their home.
In the current system, it is illegal for people to use controlled substances while living in public housing, regardless of whether state laws prohibit this. Landlords can evict these individuals. The bicameral bill, titled “Marijuana in Federally Assisted Housing Parity Act”, would change this.
This would protect people who live in Section 8 or public housing from being evicted for simply using cannabis, in states where it is legalized for recreational or medical purposes.
Norton has submitted similar versions of the proposed reform in recent sessions . However, the reform is yet to be implemented. It appears that this is the first time Booker has backed a Senate companion. The bill that was introduced last week is very similar to previous versions, but with some minor changes in the language.
Booker stated in a Thursday press release that the legislation “challenges discriminatory practices which still negatively impact federal housing tenants and ensures personal choices made according to state law are protected.” “Nobody should be evicted or denied housing because they are legally using marijuana to treat a medical condition or for treating it in states that allow it.”
The bill would also require that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development head enact regulations restricting smoking marijuana on these properties, in the same manner as tobacco is dealt with.
Norton stated that “individuals living in federally-assisted housing shouldn’t be denied entry or evicted for using a substance legal by state law or treating medical conditions.” “Increasingly Americans are changing the way they view marijuana. It is time for Congress to catch up with their own constituents.” This issue should be a bipartisan one, since so many states have improved their laws.
It is unclear how the bill will proceed. Due to competing legislative priorities during the second half of 118th Congress advocates and stakeholders focused largely on a cannabis bank bill that passed a Senate Committee last year.
It’s unclear what happened in 2018 when a Trump Administration official stated that she was trying to resolve the conflict between federal and state marijuana law as it relates to residence within federally-subsidized apartments.
Norton wrote to HUD a letter in 2021 in which urged the department to exercise executive discretion in not punishing people for using cannabis within legal states. The HUD secretary for President Joe Biden responded by telling the congresswoman it was a legal requirement to deny federally-funded housing to those who use marijuana even if their actions are in accordance with state laws.
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, (D-NY), also raised this issue during a hearing held in 2019. She pressed former HUD Secretary Ben Carson about policies that force public housing residents to be evicted and their families for low-level crimes such as possession of marijuana.
Ocasio-Cortez and Kamala Harris, then-Sen. (D-CA), also submitted legislation in that year to protect people with low-level drugs convictions against being denied access or being evicted.
In 2020, Sen. Jeff Merkley also presented an affordable housing bill that included a clause to prevent landlords from evicting tenants for manufacturing marijuana extracts when they have a licence to do so.
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Martin Alonso is the photographer of this photo.
The article Cory Booker bill would allow people to use marijuana in public housing without being evicted first appeared on Marijuana moment.
