Pubdate: Thu, 24 Mar 2016
Source: Chico News & Review, The (CA)
Copyright: 2016 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact: https://www.newsreview.com/chico/contactLetter2editor
Website: http://www.newsreview.com/chico/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/559
Author: Ken Smith

TOO OLD TO BE TOLD

Seniors in Mobile Home Park Speak Out Against Medical Marijuana Prohibition

Medical marijuana patients Bob and Margaret Jones have grown familiar 
with ever-evolving county ordinances and state and federal laws 
related to the herb. But the couple, both retired professionals, are 
especially frustrated by pending rule changes at their senior living 
community that would prohibit its use inside their own home.

The Joneses (not their real name) live in the Casa de Flores Mobile 
Home Community in north Chico. In early March, they received the 
13-page packet of regulations, which take effect in September, from 
Storz Management Co., an Orangevale-based property management firm 
that oversees more than 40 mobile and manufactured home communities 
in the North State. The packet includes guidelines for landscaping, 
parking, visitor allowances and myriad other things, but the Joneses 
were most concerned with an item under the "criminal activity" 
subsection regarding residents' prescribed standards of conduct.

The rules state that residents and guests shall not engage in 
criminal actions, including drug activity, on or near the premises, 
and further read, "This includes an absolute prohibition on 
possession of marijuana under any circumstances, even if the resident 
has a medical marijuana card."

"Never in my life as a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen would I expect 
anyone to try to regulate what legal activities I engage in in the 
privacy of my own home," Margaret said. Noting their senior status 
and her husband's service as a Vietnam veteran, she added, "I think 
most people here are old enough that we don't need to be told what to do."

More than 100 Casa de Flores residents attended a community meeting 
at the mobile home park last Friday (March 18) to express their 
concerns about the rules. Christina Watts, a senior regional property 
supervisor for Storz, facilitated the meeting.

Watts explained enforcement of the pot prohibition would be driven by 
resident complaints rather than managers policing the premises, with 
the legal eviction process beginning after a tenant received three 
complaints the management deems valid. But in the case of criminal 
activity (under which medical marijuana is included), the rules read, 
"It is understood and agreed that a single violation shall be good 
cause for termination of the Resident's rental agreement/lease. Proof 
of violation shall not require an arrest by law enforcement and/or 
criminal conviction."

The purpose of the rules, Watts said repeatedly, is to address 
problematic tenants and protect residents. At the meeting, tenants 
grumbled about ongoing issues with drug dealing, theft and 
trespassing by transients.

When resident Louthea Griffin questioned the medi-pot rule, Watts 
responded that park management won't be policing it: "Until your 
neighbors start complaining about a ton of partiers or pot billowing 
out of your windows, we don't care; we're not going to go around 
sniffing and wondering if you're smoking pot in your house.

"I understand people need to smoke marijuana for medical reasons, and 
I understand people like to smoke marijuana just to get a little 
goofy every once in a while," she continued. "But if it becomes a 
nuisance, we are going to ask you to leave."

Griffin, who is not a medical marijuana user, was not satisfied. 
"They say they won't enforce it, but that's not what's written in the 
rules," she said later, adding she feared the rule could be used to 
unfairly target otherwise exemplary tenants.

"Most of the people in this park are elderly and on fixed incomes. If 
the management company tries to enforce the medical marijuana rule 
against someone in the park, what recourse would [the tenant] have 
other than to hire a lawyer?"

Tenants have been given the option to sign a form and voluntarily 
accept the park rules. Regardless, they will apply to all residents 
beginning Sept. 1.

Andy Carey, president of Storz Management Co., stands by the medical 
marijuana prohibition.

"As in other residential rental properties, such as apartment 
complexes, the enactment and enforcement of rules and regulations in 
mobile home parks is key to maintaining safe, peaceful and enjoyable 
living environments for the residents of the community," he wrote by 
email. "The prohibition on marijuana in the park rules and 
regulations was enacted in accordance with law, and is reasonable."

Carey noted marijuana is still a Schedule I substance federally, and 
that state law doesn't limit a landlord's ability to prohibit it.

"Marijuana smoke (like any other smoke) may be a nuisance to 
neighbors. Similar to cigarette smoking bans, which are enforced 
throughout the state and universally recognized as reasonable, the 
marijuana ban was enacted for the benefit of the entire mobile home 
park community."

The only reference to cigarettes in the rules is that smoking is not 
allowed within 20 feet of recreational facilities, the clubhouse or 
laundry room.

Robert MacKenzie, a Chico land-use lawyer who's done extensive work 
on medical marijuana cases, said Proposition 215 patients like those 
at Casa de Flores are "stuck in a confusing interplay between state 
and federal laws."

"Most tenants at any rental property have something in their lease 
saying they agree to follow all laws," he said. "But medicine is an 
area that generally falls under state's rights, and in some cases, 
it's been successfully argued that federal law shouldn't apply when 
it comes to marijuana used as medicine."

MacKenzie warned that patients caught medicating likely would face a 
legal battle and that rental laws largely favor landlords. Barring a 
substantive Supreme Court ruling or state legislation that pushes pot 
out of the gray area, legal protection is not guaranteed.

"It's unfortunate, but if they were my clients I'd counsel them to be 
very careful if they choose to continue using and possessing medical marijuana."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom