I am writing to you about the unintended consequences of legalizing marijuana.

In April, I moved into a duplex. Eight months later, a new owner moved into our unit and began smoking cannabis. The fumes permeated our mutual firewall and filled our new retirement home with a stench of drugs. Upon confronting the neighbor with our issue, he claimed he is doing nothing illegal and what he does in his house is not our business.

The local police said it’s legal and there is nothing they can do.

So I am a victim of Virginia’s well-intentioned legalization of marijuana, and I have to live in a house that stinks of cannabis — or move.

We have vacated our master bedroom and now live in the guest room to escape the stench.

To date I have spent $1,200 on insulation contractors to block the smell, but it’s a situation of whack-a-mole. As you seal one area, the fumes migrate to another area.

Were I still employed by the Department of Defense with a TopSecret/SCI security clearance, I might fail one of our random drug tests just by living in my home.

Kenneth Hartlein

Suffolk, Va.

EXPRESS YOURSELF

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