Tenants at Jefferson City Housing Authority properties could be prohibited from using medical marijuana or having guests who use cannabis.
The Housing Authority Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved language of a proposed policy that would prohibit current residents and applicants from using medical marijuana in public housing and tax-credit units.
Housing Authority Executive Director Cynthia Quetsch said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development does not approve the use of the controlled substance, which is not legal on a federal level.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration lists marijuana as a Schedule I substance.
The Housing Authority provides housing for 997 families, who receive a subsidy from HUD.
"Other housing authorities aren't even adopting a formal policy," Quetsch said. "They're just saying, 'It's a drug, and we're not going to raise the issue of awareness for tenants. We're just going to enforce it like other drug policy.' I think that out of fairness, people need to be aware especially because the voters in Missouri said it was legal and so people are going to say, 'If it's legal, how come you're telling us we can't do it?' We're saying because it's federal law you can't do it on our properties."
Missouri voters approved legalization of medical marijuana in November 2018.
The proposed policy was updated to include prohibiting medical marijuana use on adjacent Housing Authority property such as parking lots, in addition to public housing units.
Guests of tenants who use medical marijuana will result in the termination of the tenant, the policy states.
Housing Authority lessees will be updated after the board reviews the changes for potential final approval next month, Quetsch said.
Smoking cigarettes, cigars, pipes, water piper, e-cigarettes and vape pens is prohibited inside all Housing Authority units.
Security updates coming to public housing neighborhoods
In other business Tuesday, the Housing Authority announced the award of a $249,000 federal safety and security grant to install cameras in public housing neighborhoods.
"The grant proposal included Dulle Street, Elizabeth Street, Buena Vista Street and the 800-1100 blocks of East Elm," Quetsch said. "Depending on the cost of the proposals, the area may need to be narrowed."
The Housing Authority also received a $713,790 emergency grant to repair floors in select public family housing units where the floor has dropped or subfloors are failing, Quetsch said.