COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — State laws and city ordinances now allow Ohioans to grow their own recreational marijuana at home, but there are caveats to doing so depending on each resident’s unique situation.
With the passage of Issue 2, recreational marijuana became legal in Ohio on Dec. 7. While the state does have dispensaries for medical marijuana, no legal vendors of the other type have launched. However, the amendment does allow people in the state to grow a set number of their own marijuana plants. The Columbus City Council also passed a city ordinance in December, which mirrors the statewide law and allows residents to grow the plants at properties in the city.
As even bringing back marijuana from another state’s legal vendors remains illegal, the only lawful way for Ohioans to use recreational marijuana as of Friday is to grow it themselves. But there are some situations where this could also result in consequences for certain residents.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein’s Office said growing marijuana at home within the limits of the law can’t necessarily bring criminal punishments for Ohioans, but it can result in civil issues. If a resident is living in a rental property, there are certain conditions where their landlord could file to evict them for growing marijuana.
“All the ordinance did was remove existing city code criminal violations … Landlords can still prohibit home grow in their leases,” said Pete Shipley, communications director for Klein’s office. “Legislation does not impact landlord-tenant relationship. Same laws apply as before.”
A legal expert from the Ohio Poverty Law Center couldn’t comment on tenants’ rights with home-grown marijuana. However, they did warn that any Ohio resident in federally subsidized housing, like Section 8, would definitely be at risk of eviction for growing marijuana, or even for possessing it. At the federal level in the United States, marijuana remains classified as an illegal substance.
Compared with renters, homeowners may have more control over whether they can grow recreational marijuana on their property. Interestingly, while landlords hold power over their tenants’ growth, homeowners associations did not get the same choice for their members spelled out in the amendment. But while Issue 2 was still on the ballot, Ohio HOA law firm Kaman & Cusimano, LLC, shared insight on how the latter groups could enforce their own rules.
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“There is no similar exception in the law for associations. But, while the law allows for the use and growing of marijuana, it does not give individuals a right to use or grow marijuana,” the firm wrote. “That is an important distinction as if a given community so decides, associations can still regulate and even prohibit the smoking or growing of marijuana, though it may require an amendment to the governing documents to do so.”
Seeking more answers about tenants’ rights in this situation, NBC4 also reached out to the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, the Columbus Urban League and two separate attorneys’ firms specializing in landlord and tenant law. The agencies either referred NBC4 to other groups and cited an inability to share concrete answers on tenants’ rights with home-grown marijuana, or did not return NBC4’s calls.
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