Lightfoot urges CHA to offer ‘clarity and fairness’ when dealing with pot

Less than a month after the Chicago Housing Authority told tenants they could still be evicted for using cannabis after the drug is legalized in Illinois, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is urging the agency to educate public housing residents on the conflicting state and federal pot laws and to use discretion when reviewing weed-related cases.

The mayor’s call for “clarity and fairness” is a direct response to a sternly worded notice the CHA sent last month to housing voucher recipients and tenants in public housing buildings that reaffirmed its no-pot policy. That notice stated that “CHA can TERMINATE all assistance” if residents or guests are found using or possessing both recreational and medical cannabis.

Though Illinois’ legalization law is set to go into effect on Jan. 1, pot will still be prohibited on the federal level — and at facilities run by agencies that receive federal funding, like the CHA.

In an undated letter to acting CHA CEO James Bebley — which was first obtained by WBEZ — Lightfoot encouraged the housing authority to “enact a robust engagement and education plan so that CHA residents are fully advised about the new landscape for possession and use of recreational marijuana.”

Lightfoot also noted that federal law and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidance requires CHA to “consider all relevant facts on a ‘case-by-case basis,’ including the seriousness of the activity, mitigating circumstances related to disability of a family member, the effects of eviction on the family and other factors.”

Residents or guests who violate the pot policy can also be reprimanded without implicating entire families that live in CHA buildings, she added.

While those considerations are reflected in the CHA’s policies, Lightfoot urged Bebley to revise CHA’s messaging to provide clear guidance to residents.

In a statement, CHA spokeswoman Molly Sullivan said the agency’s goal “has been and continues to be housing stability.” In the coming days, Sullivan said, the CHA will begin providing information about cannabis legalization to public housing residents and applicants.

“CHA is committed to ensuring that all residents, voucher holders and applicants for CHA housing understand that CHA has discretion when it comes to handling the use of cannabis and will address matters related to cannabis on a case-by-case basis,” She said.