BLAZE THE RENT

Medical-Cannabis-Using Tenants Can Be Legally Evicted, but Most
Sacramento Landlords Tend Towards Tolerance

When Eric Stewart, a blind man living in Sacramento, was served a
60-day eviction notice in January for smoking medical marijuana in
his apartment unit, the issue of tenants' rights and cannabis
resurfaced. And many were shocked that Stewart had no legal ground to
dispute his eviction.

"Marijuana is illegal under federal law, period," explained Heather
Messenger, managing attorney for the Regional Human Rights/Fair
Housing Commission. "Under state law, marijuana is illegal except for
medicinal use. But federal law trumps state law."

But Messenger also pointed out that most landlords are tolerant of
medical-marijuana use as a business decision; they have to stay competitive.

Indeed, Mercy Housing, which oversees 125 low-income rental
properties throughout California, has no formal policy on medical-pot
use among its tenants. And Mercy regional director of resource
development Rick Sprague says that the organization does in fact
house tenants who are medical-cannabis patients.

Still, as a renter, your rights are nebulous and you might find
yourself helplessly subject to a landlord's whim. Americans for Safe
Access, an Oakland-based cannabis-patients advocacy group, laments
this legal reality. "The fact that we have to deal with civil-rights
issues like access to housing, employment and even child custody
issues," said Kris Hermes with ASA, "is a travesty to the law and the
hundreds of thousands of patients that are legally complying."

The incidents are numerous and complex. Messenger noted, for
instance, the 2008 Ross v. RagingWire case, in which the plaintiff,
Gary Ross, was fired for his off-duty medical-marijuana use. Ross
suffered from back pain as a result of injuries sustained while he
served in the U.S. Air Force and, after no other medication relieved
his pain, he began using medical marijuana at home as per his
doctor's recommendation. When his employer, RagingWire Enterprise
Solutions, mandated a drug test in order to promote him, Ross failed
and was fired. He sued the company, but the court eventually ruled against him.

Even if you smoke at your apartment, the Americans With Disabilities
Act doesn't necessarily protect a patient's right to workplace and
public accommodation. "Because it's still illegal under federal law,
the ADA doesn't cover medical marijuana," Messenger explained. "A
medical-marijuana prescription isn't considered a legitimate
prescription." The California Compassionate Use Act, which legalized
medical marijuana, simply gives the patient a defense in court, she explained.

So, while a medical-marijuana patient may not be charged with a crime
for possessing marijuana, that patient can lose their job or
apartment-until federal law aligns with state law. In the meantime,
the rights of tenants who use medical marijuana will come down to the
business interests of their landlords.