Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Legal action over a medical marijuana patient's eviction from publicly funded housing continues to work its way through the courts.
But Bill Hewitt says he wants to take a stand against what he sees as a threat to all sick people on federal housing.
"I'm hoping to get Capitol Hill to hear what I have to say," he said Thursday as he and a friend Olathe resident William Hewitt smokes cannabis at his home in Olathe Thursday afternoon. Hewitt is a medical marijuana patient and says the drug, when taken as a prescription, cures is ailments and helps him live a more normal life. I worked on moving him from a small camp trailer in Olathe, to a fifth-wheel next door.
"There's so many sick and ill people. To say because they can't afford their own house they can't choose alternative medicine is really bothersome to me."
Hewitt has a legal medical marijuana card and smokes the herb to alleviate his muscular dystrophy.
In February, Hewitt announced plans to open a dispensary for legal medical marijuana patients. The Montrose County Housing Authority, which administers rental assistance voucher programs for Housing and Urban Development, then canceled Hewitt's voucher.
The MCHA told Hewitt HUD rules prohibit drug use and that though medical marijuana is legal in Colorado, the federal government does not recognize it.
Hewitt appealed to the MCHA, but was shot down. He then filed a complaint with the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, alleging the MCHA denied reasonable accommodation for his disability.
He also filed suit in district court and obtained an order directing the MCHA to restore the voucher while that case is pending. When no new voucher arrived, his attorney filed a motion to hold the housing authority in contempt; the housing authority said in court documents the hold up was with the state.
Hewitt is living at an Olathe RV park in the meantime, and says that if his voucher cannot be restored without restrictions on his medical marijuana, he will do without rent assistance.
"It hasn't been the most easy thing, but I love the freedom. I'm doing this for everyone who is sick and on HUD. I'm taking a stand. ... There are people in worse shape than I am being evicted from housing for using a medication prescribed by a doctor," he said.
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: MontrosePress.com
Author: Katharhynn Heidelberg
Copyright: 2009 Montrose Daily Press
Contact: Montrose Daily Press - Montrose, Colorado
Website: News : ?Taking a Stand? ” Medical marijuana user says suits aimed at changing housing policies (Montrose, CO)
But Bill Hewitt says he wants to take a stand against what he sees as a threat to all sick people on federal housing.
"I'm hoping to get Capitol Hill to hear what I have to say," he said Thursday as he and a friend Olathe resident William Hewitt smokes cannabis at his home in Olathe Thursday afternoon. Hewitt is a medical marijuana patient and says the drug, when taken as a prescription, cures is ailments and helps him live a more normal life. I worked on moving him from a small camp trailer in Olathe, to a fifth-wheel next door.
"There's so many sick and ill people. To say because they can't afford their own house they can't choose alternative medicine is really bothersome to me."
Hewitt has a legal medical marijuana card and smokes the herb to alleviate his muscular dystrophy.
In February, Hewitt announced plans to open a dispensary for legal medical marijuana patients. The Montrose County Housing Authority, which administers rental assistance voucher programs for Housing and Urban Development, then canceled Hewitt's voucher.
The MCHA told Hewitt HUD rules prohibit drug use and that though medical marijuana is legal in Colorado, the federal government does not recognize it.
Hewitt appealed to the MCHA, but was shot down. He then filed a complaint with the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, alleging the MCHA denied reasonable accommodation for his disability.
He also filed suit in district court and obtained an order directing the MCHA to restore the voucher while that case is pending. When no new voucher arrived, his attorney filed a motion to hold the housing authority in contempt; the housing authority said in court documents the hold up was with the state.
Hewitt is living at an Olathe RV park in the meantime, and says that if his voucher cannot be restored without restrictions on his medical marijuana, he will do without rent assistance.
"It hasn't been the most easy thing, but I love the freedom. I'm doing this for everyone who is sick and on HUD. I'm taking a stand. ... There are people in worse shape than I am being evicted from housing for using a medication prescribed by a doctor," he said.
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: MontrosePress.com
Author: Katharhynn Heidelberg
Copyright: 2009 Montrose Daily Press
Contact: Montrose Daily Press - Montrose, Colorado
Website: News : ?Taking a Stand? ” Medical marijuana user says suits aimed at changing housing policies (Montrose, CO)
