College roommate is smoking weed 24/7 and the scent is so strong i cant live here anymore!

[austin5433]

So my roommate smokes a lot of weed. I mean A LOT. And sometimes i can literally see the smoke roll in through my A/C vent from them hot boxing their room. I am a member of the National Guard as I believe it is still a banned substance for all guard employees no matter what state you are a member of. I only say this because i am concerned as a guardsmen whose full time student status is also paid by the guard bureau and would have to pay back all money received if i ever fail a drug test Not to mention a dishonorable discharge. I was wondering if there is any possible way that could help me to get out of my lease without having a big hassle of jumping through hoops to find someone to take over my lease?

 

[quincy]

So my roommate smokes a lot of weed. I mean A LOT. And sometimes i can literally see the smoke roll in through my A/C vent from them hot boxing their room. I am a member of the National Guard as I believe it is still a banned substance for all guard employees no matter what state you are a member of. I only say this because i am concerned as a guardsmen whose full time student status is also paid by the guard bureau and would have to pay back all money received if i ever fail a drug test Not to mention a dishonorable discharge. I was wondering if there is any possible way that could help me to get out of my lease without having a big hassle of jumping through hoops to find someone to take over my lease?

What is the name of your state?

“Weed” is not legal under federal drug laws. You could report your roommate to school officials or police, or request a new roommate or living space.

 

[austin5433]

I’m from Pennsylvania if that helps

 

[adjusterjack]

According to this (unless something has changed since July 2019):

https://www.medicalmarijuanainc.com/pennsylvania-marijuana-laws/

Smoking marijuana is illegal in PA, even with a medical marijuana card.

You are free to call the police on him.

Note that some cities are even more lenient than the state.

The PA landlord tenant statute isn't very helpful to you even though it has a section on Page 21 about illegal use of drugs:

https://www.thelpa.com/PA_landlord_tenant_act.pdf

Understand that the landlord has no obligation to intervene in your relationship with your roommate. It's between the two of you. Nor is he obliged to let you out of your lease.

Calling the police about the drug use may be the best way to handle it.

 

[commentator]

Why would finding another person to take over your lease be so much more of a huge hassle and "jumping through hoops" than turning your roommate over to the police? Remember, this may or may not result in him having charges filed against him, and either way, whether it does or doesn't, it is going to create a really really bad living atomosphere between the two of you.

As for the chances of your being drug tested and failing the drug test solely due to someone in your apartment smoking pot---well, you might as well worry that you're about as likely to die of lung cancer due to the second hand smoke. I think you are running way out ahead of yourself in imagining the possible consequences, (I'll be drug tested with the guard, I'll lose my guard scholarship, I'll be dishonorably discharged...….) Have you discussed this with your roommate before you go off calling the police? He/she may have a friend with more common interests who could assume the lease and you could be freed up to move on.

 

[Zigner]

If there is a situation that is huge going on which could have a tremendous impact on your future, wouldn't you do anything you could to get out of that situation? If you are really so concerned about the possibility of these things occurring, perhaps you should move and work out the financial stuff later.

 

[LdiJ]

So my roommate smokes a lot of weed. I mean A LOT. And sometimes i can literally see the smoke roll in through my A/C vent from them hot boxing their room. I am a member of the National Guard as I believe it is still a banned substance for all guard employees no matter what state you are a member of. I only say this because i am concerned as a guardsmen whose full time student status is also paid by the guard bureau and would have to pay back all money received if i ever fail a drug test Not to mention a dishonorable discharge. I was wondering if there is any possible way that could help me to get out of my lease without having a big hassle of jumping through hoops to find someone to take over my lease?

Since you apparently are in college, is this a roommate arrangement where the two of you jointly signed a lease, or a situation where the landlord rented to the two of you individually? I would have a discussion with your roommate first, but if the landlord rented to you individually, then you might have a discussion with the landlord expressing the same thoughts that you expressed here. The landlord may step in and solve the problem. Your third step, in my opinion would be to call the police.

 

[quincy]

On-campus housing is generally drug-free housing. A violation state or federal drug laws is generally considered a material violation of the lease and good cause for termination of the lease.

It is more likely that a report to school or police authorities will result in the termination of the drug-user’s lease rather than a good excuse for you to terminate your own obligations under the lease.

As a note: Your concern about failing a drug test because of your exposure to marijuana smoke could be justified. Here is a link to the National Institute on Drug Abuse with the results of studies on secondhand exposure to marijuana smoke:

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/what-are-effects-secondhand-exposure-to-marijuana-smoke

 

[LdiJ]

On-campus housing is generally drug-free housing. A violation state or federal drug laws is generally considered a material violation of the lease and good cause for termination of the lease.

It is more likely that a report to school or police authorities will result in the termination of the drug-user’s lease rather than a good excuse for you to terminate your own obligations under the lease.

As a note: Your concern about failing a drug test because of your exposure to marijuana smoke could be justified. Here is a link to the National Institute on Drug Abuse with the results of studies on secondhand exposure to marijuana smoke:

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/what-are-effects-secondhand-exposure-to-marijuana-smoke

I doubt that this is on-campus housing. Any on campus housing is going to have an RA who would have noticed and dealt with that level of pot smoking, even if they had one of those suites with single bedrooms and a common room. I think that this is off campus housing and probably a situation where the landlord rents individual rooms with common area priveledges.

 

[quincy]

I doubt that this is on-campus housing. Any on campus housing is going to have an RA who would have noticed and dealt with that level of pot smoking, even if they had one of those suites with single bedrooms and a common room. I think that this is off campus housing and probably a situation where the landlord rents individual rooms with common area priveledges.

I don’t know how you came to that conclusion. On-campus housing is not all dormitory housing.

And many student rentals are likely to have “drug free” provisions or, at least, a condition that states the lease can be terminated if local, state or federal laws are violated.

 

[LdiJ]

I don’t know how you came to that conclusion. On-campus housing is not all dormitory housing.

What kind of on campus housing are you talking about? On campus housing is dorms, fraternity and sorority housing, and student apartments. In every case however there are RAs. The only exception to that might be housing provided to some of the staff.

And many student rentals are likely to have “drug free” provisions or, at least, a condition that states the lease can be terminated if local, state or federal laws are violated.

I can certainly agree that off campus student housing might be more likely to have provisions of that sort than other types of housing in other areas.

 

[quincy]

What kind of on campus housing are you talking about? On campus housing is dorms, fraternity and sorority housing, and student apartments. In every case however there are RAs. The only exception to that might be housing provided to some of the staff.



I can certainly agree that off campus student housing might be more likely to have provisions of that sort than other types of housing in other areas.

Uh, no. Not all on-campus housing have RAs. There may be security measures taken that are not present in off-campus housing but a lot of colleges and universities often now have apartment buildings with student rentals.

 

[LdiJ]

Uh, no. Not all on-campus housing have RAs. There may be security measures taken that are not present in off-campus housing but a lot of colleges and universities often now have apartment buildings with student rentals.

So you are saying that there are rentals with no supervising staff? Do they allow freshmen to live in that kind of housing?

 

[quincy]

So you are saying that there are rentals with no supervising staff? Do they allow freshmen to live in that kind of housing?

Yes.
No.