Sponsors (3)
Exempts state‑law‑legal marijuana conduct from federal housing denials, evictions, and termination of assistance and requires HUD rulemaking on smoking parity with tobacco.
The bill protects applicants and residents in federally assisted housing from denial or eviction for marijuana conduct that complies with state law and clarifies HUD policy, but it raises health, legal, administrative, and potential fiscal challenges for housing providers and other residents.
Low-income applicants and current residents of HUD‑assisted housing — including families — will not be denied admission, evicted, or lose assistance solely for marijuana conduct that complies with state law, preserving housing stability and continued access to benefits.
Public housing agencies and HUD get clearer federal direction that aligns housing program rules with state marijuana laws, reducing instances where agencies would penalize residents for state‑legal conduct and lowering some administrative conflict between federal policy and state legalization regimes.
HUD is required to issue uniform rules limiting where marijuana may be smoked in assisted housing (within 90 days), creating clearer smoke‑free zones and consistent expectations for residents concerned about secondhand smoke.
Residents who object to marijuana smoke — including people with disabilities and others sensitive to secondhand smoke — may face increased exposure or nuisance if state‑legal use occurs in or near units, because the bill limits penalties for state‑legal conduct and HUD rules address smoking but not all forms of use.
Public housing agencies, owners, and HUD will face added legal and administrative complexity balancing federal program rules and federal drug statutes with differing state marijuana laws, increasing compliance burdens, staff time, and potential litigation or disputes.
Because federal criminal law (the Controlled Substances Act) still prohibits marijuana, the change creates legal ambiguity that could produce enforcement conflicts or uncertainty for tenants and housing providers.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Official title: To provide that an individual who uses marijuana in compliance with State law may not be denied occupancy of federally assisted housing, and for other purposes.
Introduced December 17, 2025 by Eleanor Holmes Norton · Last progress December 17, 2025
Exempts marijuana conduct that is legal under state law from federal public‑housing rules that now count marijuana use, possession, manufacture, or sale as "drug‑related criminal activity" or "illegal use of a controlled substance." It updates multiple provisions of the U.S. Housing Act and the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act to prevent federally assisted housing programs and HUD from treating state‑legal marijuana activity as an automatic basis for denial, eviction, or termination of assistance. The bill also adds a statutory definition of "State" (including DC and territories), cross‑reference language to the Controlled Substances Act, and requires HUD to issue regulations within 90 days that limit smoking marijuana in federally assisted housing in the same places HUD already restricts tobacco smoking.