Our Clients Ask Us: Marijuana Smoke

Question:

Since medical marijuana has become legal, what can we do to prohibit owners from smoking marijuana within their units?

Answer:

For many Associations, occupants are not prohibited from smoking cigarettes within the bounds of their Units (although your documents may differ on this). However, if the smoke exits the Unit into either a Common Element hallway or area, or enters into another Unit, it may be a violation of your documents as a "nuisance" to other residents.

As to the question of marijuana, regardless of what your documents say, under no circumstances are owners or occupants permitted to smoke marijuana or other illegal substances. If residents call to complain about marijuana smoke, they should be advised to call the police. While medical marijuana is now legal in Ohio, even if a person has a prescription, they are still prohibited under Ohio law from smoking it; it must be either ingested, vaporized, or topically applied.

As always, if you have any questions with regard to a specific scenario or interpretation of your documents, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Have a question or topic suggestion for our next newsletter or upcoming seminar? Feel free to drop us a line at office@ottesq.com. We would love to hear from you!

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