An article posted by the Huffington Post on March 16 about medical marijuana and HUD is getting some interested attention from our industry.
The article focuses on a letter dated February 2nd from the HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Housing and Voucher Programs to Vincent Palazzotto, executive director of the Denver-based Medical Marijuana Assistance Program of the Rockies. It is the most recent official statement I’ve seen from HUD on this issue. Presumably, these comments would also apply to privately-owned, project based HUD assisted housing, since the law on which the letter is based applies across the board.
In a nutshell, the letter states that the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act (QHWRA) of 1998 prohibits the admission into HUD programs by anyone using marijuana for medical purposes, even if such use is permitted by state law. With respect to current residents who are using medical marijuana, HUD says the law mandates a policy that will permit the housing provider to terminate assistance, but doesn’t require termination. Instead, the HUD letter states, the policy should allow decisions to terminate assistance, or not terminate assistance, on a case-by-case basis.
NCHM has received many inquiries about medical marijuana in the context of wider occupancy issues, such as: “Are users of medical marijuana allowed to claim the marijuana as a medical expense?” And, “Is the possession of medical marjuana a crime?”
Yes, possession of medical marijuana is a violation of federal criminal law. However, the U.S. Department of Justice has decided that, given the increasing number of states that have legalized the medicinal use of marijuana, prosecuting someone like a cancer patient who has lawfully obtained medical marijuana for the purposes of pain management is not a wise use of the Justice Department’s resources. The memorandum is explicit in that this does equal a “decriminalization” on the issue of marijuana (US Department of Justice Memorandum to Selected United States Attorneys from Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden, October 19, 2009).
And the HUD position is that medical marijuana is NOT an allowable medical expense deduction for rent and subsidy determinations. HUD is following a similar determination by the Internal Revenue Service on this issue (HUD Memorandum of General Counsel Gail W. Laster to the HUD Assistant Secretaries of Housing and Public Housing, September 24, 1999).