Legal Commentary

Disabled Medical Marijuana Users Face Eviction From Federal Housing

By Jeralyn

The Denver Post reports today on the sad cases of some disabled medical marijuana users, including one with MS, who are being evicted from federally subsidized housing due to regulations that prohibit illegal use of controlled substances. Under federal law, all marijuana use is illegal, even in states that allow it.

Even with the state's OK to use medical marijuana, people such as Hewitt can't live in federal housing or receive federal subsidies for rent under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Housing Choice Voucher Program.

Hewitt and another medical-marijuana user from Durango have challenged that policy with HUD's fair-housing division and in court. The policy has drawn lawsuits in at least two of the other 13 states that allow medical-marijuana use. But so far HUD has prevailed. HUD officials stress they have no choice in the matter.

The irony: [More...]

Hewitt said smoking marijuana has allowed him to cut out many prescription medications with bad side effects. He said he no longer uses tranquilizers, muscle relaxers, sleeping pills and a nerve drug. He still takes medications for his heart, bladder and stomach and a half dose of the painkiller methadone.

Travis Chambers, who owns God's Gift, a medical- marijuana dispensary in Clifton, said that points to the irony in the federal housing rules. "You can sit there and do morphine and Oxycontin and all the other heavy drugs you want," he said. "But not marijuana."

The federal government won't help the disabled who benefit from medical marijuana. Even though they are bringing the cost of medical care down by needing fewer doctor visits and fewer prescription drugs that Medicaid would be paying for.

Sounds like it's time to pass a Medical Marijuana Protection Act like the one Barney Frank has introduced the past few years, with a provision that no federal benefits may be denied to persons who lawfully possess and use marijuana under state law.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 28, 2009 (boomark / email).