Legislation that would have required home sellers to disclose to potential buyers that they grew marijuana at a property was vetoed this week by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo. In her written explanation, the governor said the disclosure was unnecessary, as many of the potential pitfalls of a cultivation operation, including mold or modified electrical systems, would have to be disclosed to buyers under existing law.
Entities opposing the proposed law included the Rhode Island Association of Realtors and the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island. In an interview, ACLU Executive Director Steven Brown explained why the organization was opposed to this proposal.
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PBN: What was the concern the ACLU had about this law?
BROWN: We were concerned that the legislation would significantly undermine the strong patient confidentiality provisions that exist in the current medical-marijuana law.
PBN: It would have applied to something as small as an individual’s medical-marijuana growing?
BROWN: The bill itself just talks about the required disclosure of any property where there is marijuana cultivation. That is not defined anywhere in the bill. We interpreted that as a patient growing two plants.
PBN: Why did the proponents feel a need for the disclosure?
BROWN: The argument we heard was that growing marijuana, depending on how much, could potentially cause mold problems. There could be fire code issues, depending on how someone grows their plants. But the Rhode Island Association of Realtors made the point very succinctly that all of these things have to be disclosed anyway. It was completely gratuitous to put something like this in. The only thing it did was to “out” people who were growing medical marijuana.
PBN: So, this could have violated a patient’s right to privacy?
BROWN: State law clearly provides a number of protections for medical-marijuana patients.
PBN: Did this have a potential to diminish property value?
BROWN: Only indirectly. Because marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, banks might refuse to issue federally backed mortgages if they were presented with evidence that medical marijuana was being grown on a property.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
