So medical marijuana passed in Mass. overwhelmingly on Tuesday and now local landlords are concerned their properties could go to weed. Like, literally, man. The new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, allows medical tokers the right to grow a two-month supply at home should they not be able to get to a pot dispensary. As Skip Schloming, executive director of the state's Small Property Owners Association, told The Herald, that could be a veritable forest: "You could have as many as 24 plants that are 6-feet tall. And that could cause all sorts of property damage, from water damage, to mold and humidity, to wiring issues that could cause a fire." Plus, it makes the apartments potential crime targets.
These concerns have led landlords to petition the state to clarify the law. Just how much marijuana can someone grow in the master bedroom's walk-in closet? If federal agents disdainful of the state law raid an apartment, can that mean loss of property for the landlords? Would it be discriminatory for landlords to turn away medical marijuana users? Because that's what some want from the state: a loophole in the law that says it's O.K. to reject someone with a disability (e.g., an illness alleviated by weed).
Meanwhile, the new medical-marijuana law doesn't exactly specify where the state's dozens of dispensaries may go. Ostensibly they could open anywhere—next to schools, playgrounds, your apartment building. The nonprofit Massachusetts Municipal Association wants a six-month delay in implementing the law, and the state, so far, has no answers for anybody. They're just eating pancake mix. Or maybe not.
· Landlords Steaming Over Pot [Herald]
Loading comments...