Jefferson City Housing Authority to vote on banning medical marijuana in public units
A large portion of Tuesday morning’s Jefferson City Housing Authority meeting centered around the state’s implementation of a legal medical marijuana industry.
Because the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development provides the majority of the housing authority’s funding, and the federal government considers marijuana a controlled substance, JCHA leaders suggested bringing their policy in line with that of the HUD department.
The recommendation from the JCHA will be to add marijuana to the non-smoking policy that is already in place in the public housing facilities, and to ban the use of marijuana by prospective and current tenants.
The JCHA’s tax credit is handled by the Missouri Housing Development Commission, which requires public housing authorities to “comply with both federal and state law,” according to JCHA executive director Cynthia Quetsch.
“I think it’s a difficult issue,” said Quetsch “I think there are going to be people who followed the procedure and got a medical marijuana permit, and it will just be a question of whether we want to allow them to use it in our facilities. I don’t think we can jeopardize our financing from HUD because if we lose that, then we’ll be shut down.”
Quetsch and other JCHA leaders said the ban on marijuana will be difficult to enforce, particularly on those who consume the drug through means other than smoking it.
A written policy that will reflect the JCHA’s recommendation to ban the use of medical marijuana in public housing units will be presented to the authority at its next meeting on Sept. 24.
The JCHA also discussed changes to the schedules for part-time personnel, an update on the urban renewal plan for the East Capitol Avenue area and proposals from structural engineers.
