Jacob Bell
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A Sacramento apartment complex is evicting a blind tenant for smoking medical marijuana in his unit.
Eric Stewart, 37, received a 60-day eviction notice Jan. 14 from the Acacia Meadows apartment complex, citing illegal possession and use of drugs.
Stewart was permanently blinded by a gunshot to the face in 1993 and displays his medical marijuana certificate on the wall of his apartment. Stewart said he uses marijuana for pain and depression.
"Where can you use medical marijuana? If you can't use it in your home, where can you use it?" Stewart asked.
The property's resident manager referred questions to the management company, Sterling Asset Management Company of Davis. A call to the company was not immediately returned.
The managing attorney of the Regional Human Rights/Fair Housing Commission said the law is not well defined when it comes to the legal use of marijuana in rental housing.
"The landlord is on kind of shaky ground, but the tenant is as well," said Heather Messenger.
Messenger said that although voters approved the medical use of marijuana in 1996, a previous state court decision suggested there are limits.
A Sacramento man sued his employer, RagingWire Telecommunications, because the company fired him for his off-duty use of medical marijuana.
The case went all the way to the state supreme court, where the fired employee lost his appeal in 2008.
Messenger said it may take a similar court ruling to decide a landlord's ability to limit the use of medical marijuana.
News Hawk- GuitarMan313 420 MAGAZINE
Source: news10.net
Author: George Warren
Contact: News10.net | Sacramento, California | Contact Us
Copyright: Copyright © 2011 News10.net
Website: Blind Sacramento man evicted for medical pot use | News10.net | Sacramento, California | Local News
Eric Stewart, 37, received a 60-day eviction notice Jan. 14 from the Acacia Meadows apartment complex, citing illegal possession and use of drugs.
Stewart was permanently blinded by a gunshot to the face in 1993 and displays his medical marijuana certificate on the wall of his apartment. Stewart said he uses marijuana for pain and depression.
"Where can you use medical marijuana? If you can't use it in your home, where can you use it?" Stewart asked.
The property's resident manager referred questions to the management company, Sterling Asset Management Company of Davis. A call to the company was not immediately returned.
The managing attorney of the Regional Human Rights/Fair Housing Commission said the law is not well defined when it comes to the legal use of marijuana in rental housing.
"The landlord is on kind of shaky ground, but the tenant is as well," said Heather Messenger.
Messenger said that although voters approved the medical use of marijuana in 1996, a previous state court decision suggested there are limits.
A Sacramento man sued his employer, RagingWire Telecommunications, because the company fired him for his off-duty use of medical marijuana.
The case went all the way to the state supreme court, where the fired employee lost his appeal in 2008.
Messenger said it may take a similar court ruling to decide a landlord's ability to limit the use of medical marijuana.
News Hawk- GuitarMan313 420 MAGAZINE
Source: news10.net
Author: George Warren
Contact: News10.net | Sacramento, California | Contact Us
Copyright: Copyright © 2011 News10.net
Website: Blind Sacramento man evicted for medical pot use | News10.net | Sacramento, California | Local News
