HOME GROWN GANJA

A man’s home may be his castle. However, when it comes to growing marijuana for you and your subjects, home management committees and landlords may be the true kings.

From December 23, adults were allowed to have in their possession up to 30 grammes of marijuana and each adult in every home can own up to four plants. They are not allowed to smoke marijuana in a public place and/or while operating a vehicle.

The bill on the decriminalisation of small amounts of marijuana was passed in the House of Representatives and the Senate. It was laid in Parliament on November 21. The Senate did not debate the Cannabis Control Bill (to regulate the business of cannabis) as the House sent this to a joint select committee. The committee will report to Parliament in February.

Sunday Newsday spoke with realtors about the amended law that allows each adult to grow up to four marijuana plants and what, if anything, will change for them.

Roxanne Husbands, corporate secretary of Home Construction Ltd, said it is something that will be discussed in the new year.

“We will have to look at our community policies but this is not something we have discussed as yet. Given the time that this law was passed recently, the management will need to get together and discuss it. Some communities that were already handed over, they will have to make that decision to see how it will impact their communities and determine where they go from there. It was brought up with regard to the company to develop a policy but no further discussions regarding the homes just yet.”

Marijuana activist and certified cannabis expert, Marcus Ramkissoon said landlords now have to look at the contracts they have their tenants sign. If they do not allow smoking tobacco on their compounds then marijuana should not be given special treatment. He added that even as an activist he will not advise a tenant to grow or smoke cannabis, highlighting that the law still regards it as a dangerous drug. So, if landlords have a no-drug-use policy then potential homeowners and tenants may have to reconsider where they live.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi when contacted, said for the most part, homeowners and home developers may just need to “apply common sense” to overcome this hurdle.

Asked if there can be legal redress for homeowners that may be told they could not grow marijuana, the AG said: “That is a fairly complicated question because there may or may not be rights contained in their agreements so in a lease agreement there is something called conveyance and in that there may be things that are prohibited that the parties agree to. It is complicated from that perspective.”

He added: “The general rule of thumb is that you can manage things in private but not necessarily in public. In townhouse development and condominiums outside your property may be considered public space because it is a general area. Common areas are all public space, people will then have to fall back to plant in a pot. There is no certain answer to this. What needs to be done is for people to apply common sense.”

Managing director of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), Brent Lyons, in response to whether or not their policies will change to facilitate the law said: “The HDC will, through its guidelines and policies, ensure that the country’s laws are followed.”

Ramkissoon said as far as he understood the law, someone can cultivate the plant in a private property not necessarily their own, so landlords will have the ultimate say.

“As an advocate for marijuana I will side with landlords for people not to cultivate in their buildings. Now this is for apartment buildings. Houses and what not are different. They should also not be allowed to smoke because that is a fire hazard and it is the land owner who will have to pay insurance and costs if someone smokes and falls asleep, and their mattress catches afire.”

He predicts that landlords will now specify in their agreements not to allow marijuana to be cultivated in their apartments. He said for the most part the tenant will have to grow the marijuana indoors and because of that they will have to use more electricity to do so, another concern for the landlord.

One development in east Trinidad said they have not discussed the issue of clients growing marijuana at their homes and it will be addressed in the new year with the board as they now want to get a better understanding of the law.

Brent Charles, manager at Home Realty, said as long as it is not written with the conveyance or the deed there is not much that the developer can do to stop clients who choose to grow cannabis.

“There are gated communities that govern the actions while you are on the compound. For instance, in some cases pitbulls are not allowed. As we speak I don’t think there are any developers that have already instituted a no-growing of marijuana on the compound. I can’t see them doing it now if it was passed in Parliament as a non-issue.”

He continued: “I’m not saying it can’t be done. This is less than a month old. This will now become a members’ decision as in the members of the home-management committee to decide if they will allow it. From a developer’s perspective I don’t think anyone is trying to edit their agreements to govern whether you can grow marijuana on the compound.”

Al-Rawi said he does not expect to have a weed epidemic in TT with every house now running to grow marijuana but believes things will go in an opposite direction.

Ramkissoon said that with the Cannabis Control Bill coming next year, many of these issues should be properly addressed. He raised the issue of medicinal marijuana which can be consumed through smoking, but, from a landlord’s perspective, while they can’t deny someone medication, they have a right to say no-smoking on their compound.

He added that while the law allows for adults to have small amounts of marijuana, it is still listed legally as a dangerous drug and therefore homeowners can rightfully be stopped from growing it, even in their homes, if their contracts stipulates no dangerous drugs are allowed.