Jackson woman evicted from federal housing for medical pot use

The tension between federal and state laws about marijuana continues to clash in Michigan. A Jackson woman, who is a registered medical marijuana patient has been evicted from a federal housing unit because of the drug despite compliance with state law.

The Jackson Citizen Patriot reports.

Shannon Sterner, a 25-year-old mother of two, has fibromyalgia and reactive arthritis brought on by an infection. She had used traditional pain management options for months, but finally turned to medical marijuana nine months ago. That lead to complaints from neighbors about the smell of pot coming from her apartment. In July, the Jackson Narcotics Enforcement Team (JNET) responded to her residence where they found marijuana plants being grown on her back porch.

Officials from JNET say they are still investigating the marijuana plants found on her porch and considering criminal charges.

Sterner denies she was growing the marijuana, noting she has a registered caregiver who provides the marijuana to her.

But that didn’t stop the housing program from evicting her.

“They said I violated my lease for having an illegal substance,” said Sterner, who was ordered to vacate her home at Ridgewood Vista Apartments by Wednesday afternoon. “For me, I was under the assumption it was legal and I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Federal law prohibits the use or possession of illegal drugs in federal housing, so apartment managements says they were obligated to evict Sterner. Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Michael Klaeren agreed with the housing officials in December and signed an eviction order for Sterner.

Sterner is now without an income, disabled, and without a home. Her belongings were packed into her boyfriends van, and she and her children spent the night with friends. Because of her disability she is unable to hold a full time job. The subsidized federal housing was a lifeline for her she says.

“It’s distressing because Shannon is sick,” said Michigan Medical Marijuana Association President Michael Komorn, her attorney. Komorn told the Citizen Patriot he is considering an appeal of the eviction. “She is being singled out for her choice of how she wants to treat her medical condition. She was doing nothing wrong.”

Sterner joins a Battle Creek man fired from Walmart for using medical marijuana, and others in Ingham and Saginaw County who have had run ins over medical marijuana use.

Drug Enforcement Agency agents are also seeking medical marijuana files from the Michigan Department of Community Health — something the state has resisted. But now Attorney General Bill Schuette has told a federal court in Grand Rapids that if the federal court orders the department to comply with a subpoena and issues immunity for health department workers from civil and criminal penalties in Michigan’s medical marijuana law, the state will turn over the documents. A hearing on the matter was postponed Wednesday after medical marijuana advocates filed an emergency motion in federal court seeking to intervene in order to uphold the confidentiality of medical marijuana files in the possession of the state.