DEBATE OVER MEDICAL MARIJUANA COULD AFFECT HOUSING

KALAMAZOO - The federal government has told property managers of
federally subsidized units they can evict tenants who use or possess
marijuana - including those who use medical marijuana legally under
Michigan law.

In response, a Kalamazoo-based property management firm sent a memo
on March 17 to more than 6,000 residents of its federally subsidized
units, some of which are for people who are elderly or disabled. It
said that if they were found "smoking, growing or in possession of
marijuana on the property or in your apartment, regardless of medical
prescription, you will be given a 24-hour eviction notice," the first
step in an eviction process.

The issue creates a new gray area between state and federal
governments where marijuana laws are concerned.

The memo, obtained by the Kalamazoo Gazette, was sent by Medallion
Management Inc., which owns six rental facilities in Kalamazoo,
including the Rickman House in downtown, three in Portage and 12
around Southwest Michigan. Medallion's Web site says the company
operates in "over 94 communities providing rental homes for
approximately 6,400 families and individuals throughout Michigan,
Indiana and Wisconsin."

Michigan law allows for the use of medical marijuana for residents
with a qualifying condition. But the federal government considers all
uses of marijuana to be illegal - even by those who have
recommendations to use medical marijuana and live in states that have
laws allowing it. "We have to follow the law given to us," said Scott
Beltz, vice president of Medallion. "We're kind of caught in the middle."

Beltz said Medallion received an e-mail from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Office of General Counsel in early March that gave the
agency's opinion on the use of medical marijuana in federally
subsidized housing. Medallion gets its federal money through the
USDA's Rural Development division, Beltz said.

The USDA memo states that marijuana - whether for medicinal uses or
not - is illegal in the eyes of the federal government and that
federal law "pre-empts state law."

The memo also provides "enforcement actions" property owners can take
when illegal drugs are found, including terminating the lease and
denying entry into the dwelling until the person "agrees not to
commit drug violations in the future and has completed, or is in the
process of completing, drug-related counseling."

The memo further states that current regulations establish that
landlords are responsible for monitoring illegal drug use. Any
actions taken by landlords should be done in "a non-discriminatory
way," it says.

"We have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to illegal drugs," Beltz said.

Does that apply to medical marijuana?

Said Beltz, "I don't know. It appears so."

The firm does not have a policy on how it would investigate tenants
who are suspected of possessing or using medical marijuana.

Greg Francisco, executive director of the Michigan Medical Marijuana
Association, said, "The federal government is wrong on this issue.
Our state says that medical marijuana is legal. The compassionate
choice is the hard choice. Don't evict these people."

He said landlords who would give an eviction notice to those who use
medical marijuana would be "cowards hiding behind policy," adding
that the decision is a "moral one."

Up to Discretion

Landlords have some discretion on whether to enforce the federal rule.

Although there is lease language that prohibits illegal drug use in
federally subsidized housing units, enforcement is "up to the
property owner," said James Turner, director of the state's USDA
Rural Development program.

"I don't have an opinion on the memo they (Medallion) sent out, but
landlords have discretion in these cases," he said.

Turner said he was not aware of other property management firms in
the state that have sent similar memos to residents.

The state does not have any policy language on the issue, said Mary
Lou Keenon, spokeswoman for the Michigan Housing Development Authority.

"I don't know how they are going to do that at this point," she said
of the possibility of eviction. "We may have language on that in the
future, but right now we don't."

Federal Protection

In October 2009, the Obama administration told the U.S. Justice
Department that federal funds should not be used to prosecute those
using marijuana for medical purposes who live in states that have
medical-marijuana laws.

In the memo to federal prosecutors in the 14 states that have medical
marijuana laws, the Justice Department stated that it was committed
to the "efficient and rational" use of resources, and that
prosecuting medical-marijuana patients who are in "clear and
unambiguous compliance" with state laws didn't meet that standard.

John Targowski, a Kalamazoo lawyer who has handled multiple cases
involving medical marijuana and has advised the Kalamazoo Coalition
for Pragmatic Cannabis Laws, said medical-marijuana patients should
be approached lightly with regard to the possibility of eviction.

"Obviously, marijuana is still illegal in the eyes of the federal
government," he said. "Evicting a person who is using marijuana for
nonmedical reasons is one thing, but to evict a patient operating
under state law is another."

Similar Cases

In October, Lori Montroy, an Elk Rapids resident who has been
treating effects of her stage-4 brain cancer with medical marijuana,
was told by the property manager that she would be evicted from her
federally subsidized Elk Rapids Apartments unit after apartment staff
found marijuana plants growing in a locked closet in her apartment.

Montroy, 49, had a state-issued identification card indicating she
was a legal user of medical marijuana. Still, Montroy was told she
had to leave her apartment by Jan. 1 based on federal law that
declares marijuana illegal. To date, she is still living there as her
case is being appealed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

"No one deserves to be put out in the cold or on the streets for
treating an illness (with medical marijuana)," said Rana Elmir,
director of communications for the ALCU of Michigan. "Landlords are
not compelled to evict if a person using medical marijuana is
operating within the law. They are given full discretion to treat
patients with care and allow them to stay in their homes."

Beltz said Medallion has sought evictions for tenants who were using
illegal drugs in the past, but "didn't know" how the firm would
enforce the federal rule on medical marijuana at its properties,
adding that "we don't have a policy on that."

To date, no resident has been evicted for possessing or using medical
marijuana, he said. "We don't have a personal position on medical
marijuana," he said. "I don't make money on empty units."