The State - News from Aug. 21, 1989

A San Diego city commission is preparing to send notices to more than 1,000 public housing tenants warning that they will be kicked out if they use or deal drugs at their subsidized units. The Housing Commission staff has drafted a policy that, if enacted, could result in the eviction of public-housing residents based only on police assertions that narcotics were found in their apartments, commission official Carrol Vaughan said. “We’re saying we won’t tolerate drugs in public housing,” she said. “We’re talking about even small amounts of drugs. It’s zero tolerance.” The proposed changes reflect the newly established “drug-free public housing policy” of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. San Diego housing officials say drug abuse is not a big problem in the city’s 1,068 public units. The proposed policy is intended to protect law-abiding tenants and open the door for worthy families on a three-year waiting list for those low-rent apartments, Vaughan said.