DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton penned a letter to Marcia Fudge, US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, requesting that she use executive discretion to not enforce rules against marijuana use in federally assisted housing where the state legalized marijuana.
“Individuals should not be denied admission to or fear eviction from federally assisted housing simply for treating their medical conditions or using a substance legal under state law,” Norton said. “Increasingly, Americans are changing their views on marijuana. Marijuana is legal in 36 states and the District of Columbia, and nobody should fear being thrown out of their home for using a product legalized by their state.”
Norton complained that people who use drugs that are illegal under federal law, including marijuana, are prohibited from being admitted into federally assisted housing, and landlords are allowed by federal law to evict residents of federally assisted housing due to drug use.
No one should be denied admission to or face eviction from housing simply for treating their medical conditions or using a substance legal under state law.
Release: https://t.co/fmCs5ZDG83
— Eleanor #DCStatehood Holmes Norton (@EleanorNorton) May 25, 2021
The congresswoman says that smoking marijuana in federally assisted housing should be treated in the same manner as smoking tobacco in federally assisted housing.
Norton is the politician behind the Marijuana in Federally Assisted Housing Parity Act of 2021, which would require federally assisted housing to comply with state cannabis law according to where the residence is located, instead of federal law.
The issue stems from marijuana still being illegal on the federal level, while it is legal in 36 states and the District of Columbia.