Does a commercial landlord assume any responsibility if his tenant is selling Medical Marijuana?

The property manager would likely have the same responsibilities to this business as they would to all the tenants. It’s the responsibility of the individual business owner to make sure they comply with local laws.

@wheee are you asking about moral responsibilities?

When running a marijuana dispensary, security has to be a big concern. You can’t have thugs robbing sick people to steal their weed.

Probably.

I know that, for example, a lot of property developers won’t lease land to gas stations because of the long-term environmental and security implications. I imagine that the same logic probably applies to medicinal marijuana dispensaries.

Not to mention, for the last eight years, the Feds were going after dispensaries that were legal under California state law. Who would rent to these guys?

If the tenant told the landlord that is what he was going to do, and the landlord didn’t immediately go tattle to the Feds, I can imagine that a case could be made against him/her.

Landlords are under no obligation to call the feds when a tenant is growing marijuana.
During the dark years of Dick Cheney, landlords had to worry about their property being seized by the D.E.A. for property drug violations (and, worse than countries like China and Iran…. no charges are necessary for the DEA to just take your property away.)

Obama has put a stop to that crap, and is using the D.E.A. a lot more carefully and thoughtfully than President Cheney did. The issue of medical marijuana has already gone through the federal courts, and some aspects are not decided yet. But we do know for sure that landlords and local police are under zero obligation to nark on citizens to the DEA.

Landlords in California, Colorado, and Michigan are free to do as they please, on this particular issue, only having to worry about laws and liabilities that apply to all businesses in general.