The legalization and approval of marijuana in 2018 is spreading like wildfire throughout the United States, both for medicinal and recreational use.
Oklahoma recently joins the 30 distinct states and the District of Columbia in authorizing cannabis in some form.
It’s evident that the marijuana industry is here to stay, with it growing to be a 31 billion dollar organization in just a few short years of becoming legal, but what does this mean for property managers and landlords alike?
Well, currently the SQ,788 was approved on July 11, 2018, that medical marijuana patients can grow and maintain up to twelve plants in their property, which includes rental properties. This temporary policy (subject to negotiation) has left property managers scratching their head’s and wondering how to protect themselves and their properties.
Research conducted by Colorado’s drug investigators clearly shows that growing and maintaining marijuana plants indoors significantly increases the number of mold spores to ten times the amount.
Other states have tackled this matter by adding in policies that are specifically designed to protect property owners and landlords against the risk of mold and other issues that are associated with growing and smoking marijuana indoors. Some states such as Alaska and New Mexico have implemented the rule that residents who use medicinal and recreational marijuana must have been granted written permission from the property owner before use.
In addition to new policies and protection, the state of Arkansas has now made it legal to prohibit tenants who are medical marijuana patients from smoking and growing marijuana on rented property. However, this does not cover marijuana consumption in other forms such as edibles.
The laws differ from state to state. Research the details of the laws of your particular state to ensure you know your rights.
At the time of writing this the following states have passed and made legal the sale and use of marijuana for recreational purposes
- Alaska
- California
- Colorado
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Nevada
- Oregon
- Vermont
- Washington
- Washington, D.C.
Following on from that, these states have legalized medicinal marijuana use:
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Washington
- Washington, D.C.
- West Virginia
Cannabis will remain a hazy issue for property managers in years to come as more states get onboard to reap the benefits of legalization. It pays to do your research on your state when it comes to the issue to ensure you have the greatest understanding available to you on the topic as there is no country-wide standard and things differ tremendously state to state.
SnapInspect will be following the matter carefully, as soon as we become aware of new legislation’s, state laws or information regarding medicinal and recreational marijuana and what it means for the property industry we will be posting regarding the matter.
Make sure you follow our blog to stay up to date with the latest information and how you can best protect your property.
And lastly, we have one question,
What do you call a marijuana smoker with two spliffs?
“Double-jointed”
