 think take away civil engagement lives here it's condo insider time Thursday three o'clock I think we started a couple minutes late today but we were having a vibrant discussion about one of our programs provided by the Honolulu Police Department called the Honolulu Citizens Police Academy go online check it out but it's a 13-week course for the public about the challenges of being a police officer and I send out my greatest respect for our men in blue and the other first responders because I can tell you I'm in my 11th or 12th week now of doing this course and I can tell you they have a very tough job so thanks to our first responders and then we have our second responder here Nalaan the attorney who is well known in our industry and an expert on everything except maybe the Honolulu Citizens Police Academy will get you there and we want to talk about condo cannabis that's the issue of marijuana in condos and I would tell you to start this show when it gets down to people's rights nothing is simple there are so many F.A.M. butts ores and ores and complexities will do our best job to give you a balanced perspective condo cannabis but welcome back always good to see you give me a little one-minute summary of who you are so those who haven't seen the show before know more about you hello everyone my name is Nalaan always a pleasure to be back I'm a attorney with the law firm Damon Keeley on Cupchar Castered I practice condominium law and immigration law our firm offers food services to condominium associations community associations co-ops in Hawaii always a pleasure to talk about the condo issues about you know how people live in condo projects you know more smoothly and happily but before we get into the nitty gritty of the cannabis law and condos you and I are having a little discussion and beforehand that as if I'm correct on this we have a state law that allows use of medical marijuana under certain circumstances the federal law does not allow that correct and so we were talking about the issue of whether an immigrant here in Hawaii could get a medical marijuana card whether it be valid because they're not a state citizen what's your thoughts yeah so if if you're basically either a green card holder or holding a non-immigrant visa you know having gone through the naturalization process to become a US citizen then because marijuana is still listed as a controlled substance under the federal law it's illegal to use it in any way so even if you get you know under Hawaii law you get the medical you know user card you would still be running the risk of being subject to removal if you you know use marijuana so that's a very I think it's an unfortunate issue because there are people there especially like a children they have for example seizure they would need medical marijuana to treat their disease and unfortunately if they don't have the US citizenship they probably cannot use it well I guess this goes back to what I said there's a lot of gray areas under this and it's not so clear after all but you know we talk about the law really talks about cannabis not marijuana is there a difference what why do we use the word cannabis as a term they're basically the same thing just because in 2017 we passed the law basically revising all the terms that we use before we use marijuana but the new law basically says now from now on we'll use cannabis in place of marijuana so basically they're the same thing so the current law we have can you briefly summarize what I know there's gonna be some detailed discussion we're gonna have about condos and smoking and all that but generally what does the current law say so if you are a qualifying patient and you have the medical need for marijuana and if you comply with the registration requirement then you you're allowed to use marijuana you know with adequate supply and you will be having affirmative defense for any prosecution regarding your usage of marijuana in Hawaii is it hard to get a medical marijuana card do you think or do you know or if you have a legitimate need I don't think it's gonna be difficult because you basically need the doctors to provide the you know certification for you and then you just go through a registration process with the state and it's fairly you know if you have the instruction it's not hard to do I think the issue is you really need you have to get the legitimate medical need instead of just for using for recreational use purpose but of course in other states right now I think at least a nice date plus DC be allow recreational use of cannabis as well but Hawaii as of now we only allow medical use now if a person had medical use for another state and they came here to Hawaii on vacation would they be able to buy for one of our local dispensaries no because we don't have a reciprocity policy here you have to have a legitimate you know Hawaii card which is called the 329 card because the statutory chapter 329 is regarding narcotics includes a you know a session regarding medical usage of marijuana so one thing that I think I should ask you about is that when you have the card I think you said the 329 card are you limited in quantities or and there's issue about having the actual plants himself in your apartment what are what are the basic criteria there yeah so you're only allowed adequate supply which is limited to I think 10 plants the maximum or four ounces of course you can you know there are still places you cannot use them for example you can't use it in a moving vehicle you cannot use on school grounds public park no public beach no and any common areas you know accessible to the public you cannot use it there I mean but if it's you know you have the card then you are allowed and you know to just that you know the limited to the adequate supply or you're allowed to use it and usage actually includes acquisition cultivation including growing you know on the card usually there's also a will specify what are the location where your plants will be grown so in a condo association for example the common areas it would be illegal yes for sure and we'll get into the apartment and Linai's and things in a minute you know it's interesting because I was taking this how those citizens police academy we had a class on illegal drugs which goes beyond marijuana it goes to all the opioids and all the rest of that stuff you read so much about but if I remember correctly and I have a bad memory out there so don't always quote me but my understanding is that if you had a problem the police do get calls about people having marijuana and they will go there and they will ask to see the medical marijuana card and it's my belief that the plants they have have to be registered they have to have a tag on them of some sort and that if either a they have more than 10 plants or be there's not a tag on the plants they will confiscate them and if they had 11 plants they confiscate all 11 plants not just the one excess plant so I think the people who use that substance and lawfully do so because they have a card just ought to check out the rules and condom bars that I be careful because people have rights if they have a medical card to possession of a reasonable amount or a necessary amount or whatever term you use they're allowed to have that which may include up to 10 plants based on our belief yeah and because the law enforcement officer have access to all the registration data you know through department health it's a 24-hour basic inquiry based if they make the inquiry they will be able to get all the information on your registration so well how about if you're a landlord you say I'm gonna rent my unit out I'm gonna rent it out to John Smith John Smith and John Doe get blamed for a lot of things you know they have a very big long rap sheet particularly John Doe I don't I don't think I've known someone sued as many times as John Doe but but the reality of it is so I rent my unit to John Doe and my rental agreement says no smoking can I evict him or cancel the lease because he smokes marijuana legally under the under this 329 card yes I mean basically the law is you have to give you know equal treatment no discrimination against you know medical marijuana smokers if you have a no smoking policy or treating you know the cigarette smokers and the medical marijuana smokers on equal footing then you're okay to do that but there is a wrinkle to that that's because the the fair housing law basically has a reasonable you know accommodation requirement there for a disabled person you need to afford them the opportunity you know for equal usage enjoyment of the housing first so for example if you want to evict that tenant and then the tenant turns around said you know I'm a disabled person I'm requesting for reasonable accommodation regarding this then you have to jump through the hoops you know the reasonable accommodation for housing compliance with the HCRC otherwise you could be facing a complaint you know within you know HCRC's jurisdiction for those out there HCRC stands for the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission which is the enforcement agency for all this but wouldn't I be able to say is I'm the landlord my example I'm not prohibiting from using marijuana he can surely ingest it by edibles or other methods I'm just saying no smoking because it's costly for me to clean the unit up after no smoking that makes sense because there are other ways to use marijuana you can do it by repurposing or ingesting it or you know things like that yeah I think one of the complications and and I was confiding with our producer here before the show that I went to a military college so I've lived a very sterile life when it comes to artificial drugs including marijuana so I'm not necessarily sure I'm the best person to understand all this but you know it seems to me that by saying edibles and of course edibles aren't clearly available today in Hawaii in the sense that I don't think they've been approved for distribution yet maybe some have but they're probably much scarcer than the plant itself for smoking so I guess that's another wrinkle on the reasonable accommodation issue I'm not expert on that because I know you know there are nine disciplines in Hawaii already but if you look at nationwide the trend is actually towards legalizing marijuana there was a poll down in 2017 was like 61% are in favor of legalizing marijuana basically right now I think you know most of the western coast nine states plus DC allows every all kinds of usage and then there's about 21 states allows medical marijuana usage and then there's another portion of states they allow some lesser you know they be allowed to use the extract so really because it's a 6.6 billion industry every seven out of ten dollars is going to the medical usage and then the rest of the three out of ten is going to you know recreational use so we'll see in the future you know which direction we're heading in Hawaii but there's been bills proposed before regarding workplace usage that was you know that didn't pass but for now I think for scooting purpose parental rights housing you need to you know be careful give you know equal protection like do not discriminate against the medical marijuana users okay we're gonna take a short break and come right back and talk about those people who use or smoke marijuana in the condo apartment and all the gray matter the surrounding all of that so we right back in one minute aloha in a shoe she had so many children she didn't know what to do she gave them some broth without any bread and kiss them all soundly and put them to bed hunger is a story we can end and it at feeding America org you can be the greatest you can be the best you can be the welcome back to condo insider with na-la prominent local lawyer talking about cannabis or marijuana in condos we are talking about it in general terms the law before the break and we want to get into what do boards or associations do when they believe they have a person who is smoking marijuana and it's becoming a problem I remind our viewers that they can always call our hotline and 808 374 2 0 1 4 if they have a question but let's clarify one thing on smoking did the law change regarding these electronic smoking devices yeah there was a lot passed earlier basically east grads they are also prohibited if there is a smoking ban they're treated as the same as grass smoking so now I have a condo I'm on the board I have neighbors calling me I think the guy and you know 101 is smoking grass and the smells bothering me and this is not right what do you say when you you're born you hear that so basically there are three steps you need to jump through the hopes you know the first one for course you have to verify whether this occupant is using marijuana for medical purpose and you can basically ask the you know user you know whether they possess you know the proper registration you know card the 329 card and then after you verify that then it really depends on whether your building is a no smoking building or not because we all know the laws already said in common areas of the project you cannot smoke right but the real problem lies within the individual units and you know some some projects the line eyes because usually it's not clear whether the line eyes consider you know part of the unit or if it could be also consider like a limited common elements I know there are different opinions among attorneys as to you know inside units usually it's clear that if the association wants to ban smoking inside units then you need a past bylaws amendment usually 67% ownership approvals required sometimes as to line eyes certain attorneys consider that as limited common as our common elements so that's prohibited but there are also you know areas where if the line eyes part of the units then you still need a 67% ownership approval as well and so how about boards that say well I'm just gonna make a house rule on private marijuana or smoking that general I mean that that's a risky approach but you know of course you have some theories like you know nuisance you know if it's to a certain degree that's creating a nuisance at the project then you have some basis there but still you know you think about it you know common interest properties private you know investment when you bought this project there's no such restriction if it's a lifetime you know smoker he invested in this project and this is his only home if he's not allowed to smoke inside the unit you are sort of taking you know a portion of his usage or enjoyment of his housing so there were bills proposed before in the legislature trying to lower in the percentage required to pass you know no smoking policies building wise inside units though those were really contested and ultimately those bills didn't pass so apparently this is I think is an issue subject to disputes you have any view that if they passed legitimately a bylaw amendment is 67% to make it a non-smoking building are the existing smokers grandfather that's a good question you know I think you know if the it's a bylaw amendment you know unless you know the the amendment has the grandfather in clause there I don't think he will automatically have the grant grandfathering you know if impact there I'm gonna say this but I don't remember the specific case but do remember being told this that there was actually a lawsuit on this matter the judge ruled you buying a condo you live by the rules you die by the rules the bylaws provided us supermajority 67% can amend and yes you have to stop smoking yeah and that the fact you're there already doesn't grandfather you with respect to the new rule adopted by the supermajority but I'm sure as time goes on and lawsuits continue they'll probably do new takes on that matter so so you have this thing with so you have this big concern of why is the Rights Commission interfering with this they labeled reasonable combination what do I say to the lady who's pregnant says you're affecting the health of my unborn child or the person that says I'm allergic to smoke or I don't want secondhand smoke because of all the health hazards what do you say to that person so definitely you need to do some balancing you know on case-by-case basis this is why we're just sharing information here we're not giving any substantive legal advice if you have a specific matter I think the best advice is to consult your attorney you know because every situation there are some you know different facts that could change of the analysis you know of course on the way hand under fair housing you have the you know obligation to provide reasonable accommodation for a disabled person if you know it's necessary for them to use marijuana for medical purpose but we also know you know the examples you gave of perfect examples where we need to take those into consideration if for the patient there is another alternative way to use medical marijuana and doesn't have to smoke it for example if he has this closed-universe vaporizing thing he can just limit the stuff within his unit without you know the smoke traveling everywhere or if he can install like a filter or like you know stuff to prevent the you know the the smoke traveling out of his unit then maybe that's the right way to go like a sorting out like alternative solutions here so the board can look at alternatives by saying look we want you to put in a vaporizing unit or a filter or we want to we're not telling you not to use marijuana we're just telling you not to smoke marijuana because of the fact that's having health consequences with other residents and try to find a balance or a common ground to make it work realizing oftentimes that doesn't work and you have to resort to some other legal means arbitration mediation maybe to resolve the dispute but I think words can't just ignore it if you have a resident or an owner saying you're affecting the health of my baby I don't think you can necessarily just ignore them I think you have to look for common ground and not just shine it on yeah the best of procedures actually to have a you know like a policy in place so you know if this kind of situation occurs what are the steps you're supposed to take under the law so that and then you follow the procedure to uniformly enforce it instead of you know oh this individual case you know I do it on this like the other one it could be a different standard then you were subject to selective enforcement or just unfair discrimination issues and that's where you could get into trouble yeah this question kind of came up in a different way at the Citizens Police Academy I've been attending because I did find out that police officers do get calls about the marijuana smoke and they will come and they will ask to see the medical marijuana card and I'll make sure that they have one that's still valid not expired and they'll also if they have plants are growing they'll make sure they don't exceed the number and that they're duly marked I think there's some marking requirement if you have those in your home for those plants and so that's another alternative if if you don't want to make a scene that you want someone to check it out but on the other side if you know that person has a medical marijuana card that's probably not a good idea to call the police because you're not gonna be able to do anything with respect to that so we're kind of getting the end of the show real quick what are the big risks if you don't do this right yeah you could be subject to housing claims you know followed with the HCRC you could also subject to liabilities arising from you know lawsuits and other challenges and you know I noticed this about all attorneys so so your advice is probably when you have this issue consult with your attorney yes well you know I have to say to our viewing audience that you know this is not clear there's a lot of gray areas on that but looking at the issue objectively establishing some written protocol or policies and how you'll handle the matter realizing you do have the right to ask for proof that they have a medical marijuana card you do have a right to suggest they use a filter or ingest it if the we call it noxious odor because that could be incense by the way or things don't align the interfere with the well-being and the quiet enjoyment of the other residents are all part of the program but it's such a gray area and somewhat a new area I would recommend reluctantly I recommend contact your lawyer but if you're contacting not a lot it's okay she's special she's young he does my show often and I appreciate her courtesy so thank you for being on the show and we appreciate the discussion of cannabis I'll use the official name and we want to thank all of you for watching condo inside of this week next week we're going to have the fire chief and he's going to talk about the new sprinkler law and all the newest resolution before the city council kind of after we thought we had this resolved saying that the fire department is is cheating on the agreed upon resolution but we'll get into that next week with my co-host Jane Sugimura tune in next Thursday three o'clock Jane Sugimura and our fire chief aloha