WASHINGTON — The legalization of pot for home use in D.C. has the Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington doing outreach to landlords over how to deal with the changes.
Nicola Whiteman, senior vice president of government affairs with AOBA, says the law is flexible. “It does vest private property owners with the ability to determine what kind of activities can occur on their property.”
Eldad Moraru, of Long and Foster, says pot’s aroma could be a factor.
“Just like cigarette smoking, it can present the same issues we faced in the housing market several years back when smoking started getting banned in restaurants and people started getting up in arms about secondhand smoke,” Moraru says.
The new law will mean some adjustments. Whiteman says that for landlords, “it’s a communication issue, making sure that our members are aware of what the language is” and helping those building owners shape policies in their own buildings.
Just as some buildings bill themselves as pet-friendly, will some now market themselves as “pot-friendly”? Whiteman says client preference help drive policies; just as some buildings find allowing smoking in some areas is a benefit, others determine that going smoke-free is a better model.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
