Norton Files Amendments to Allow Marijuana Use in Public Housing in Jurisdictions Where It Is Legal

Press Release

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced she has filed two amendments at the House Rules Committee to the fiscal year 2023 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill to allow marijuana in public housing in jurisdictions where marijuana is already legal. One amendment would prohibit the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from using its funds to enforce the prohibition on marijuana in federally assisted housing in jurisdictions where recreational marijuana is legal. The other would prohibit HUD from using its funds to enforce the prohibition on medical marijuana in jurisdictions where medical marijuana is legal. The amendments are co-led by Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA).

"The Department of Housing and Urban Development should not be allowed to remove people from their homes or otherwise punish them if they follow the marijuana laws of their jurisdictions," Norton said. "More and more states are moving toward legalization of marijuana, especially of medical marijuana. It is time for HUD to allow marijuana in federally assisted housing in jurisdictions where it is legal, particularly where medical marijuana is legal. Nobody should be evicted for following the law and the advice of their doctors."

Earlier this Congress, Norton introduced a bill to permit marijuana in federally assisted housing in jurisdictions where it is legal. Norton also sent a letter to HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge asking her to use executive discretion to not enforce the prohibition on marijuana in federally assisted housing in jurisdictions where marijuana is legal.

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