SANE, SOBER 69-YEAR-OLD FACES EVICTION FOR DRUGS

WINTER PARK -- Mary Dowdell, a 69-year-old diabetic with chronic renal
failure, is being evicted from her apartment because of marijuana possession.

But the sick elderly woman didn't fire up a joint, and she wasn't walking
around with weed in her purse. In fact, she said she has never used drugs.
Her 25-year-old son, however, pleaded guilty to possession of a tiny amount
- -- about 3 grams -- of the drug, and that's enough to get his mother kicked
out of her home. "I'm not responsible for what he did," said the
grandmother of more than 20 -- she loses count sometimes. "I don't know
where I'll go."

Dowdell is the latest in a line of law-abiding citizens falling victim to
the one-strike-you're-out federal directive President Clinton instituted in
1996 to clean up government housing complexes, such as The Meadows where
Dowdell and her son Kareem Lovett live.

Ideally, the policy is supposed to keep drug dealers and users out of
public housing. Sometimes, however, sick elderly tenants such as Dowdell
get caught in the crossfire.

Her lawyers have filed a lawsuit asking for a jury trial. They begin
mediation with lawyers from the Winter Park Housing Authority today.

"This is a policy that punishes poor people," said Rob Hornstein, Dowdell's
lawyer. "It visits the sins of people who may be culpable for wrongdoing on
innocent children, the elderly and disabled people."

The policy holds tenants responsible for any drug-related activity that
occurs inside their apartments or outside the premises by people living or
visiting there. Even if the activity does not result in an arrest, family
members can lose their home.

Lynelle McCall, resident manager for the Winter Park Housing Authority,
said the measure has "definitely helped" to clean up its properties.

Executive Director Linda Hink-ley could not be reached for comment Tuesday,
but agencies around the country tout the success of the policy. A 1997
report showed that nationwide, 3,847 tenants had been kicked out of public
housing in the first six months of the policy, an 84 percent increase over
the number evicted for drugs and other crimes in the previous six months.

But there have been problems.

Ann M. Boule of Syracuse, N.Y., faced eviction in December 1996 after
asking the father of one of her children to babysit in her apartment for
the day. While Boule was at work, the man brought in two friends and was
arrested for possessing and selling drugs.

The City Court of Syracuse eventually held that because the tenant was not
personally at fault, she should be allowed to keep her home.

That's what Dowdell is hoping will happen in her case if it goes to court.
"I've never used drugs," she said. "I've never even smoked a cigarette."

That, along with Dowdell's history at the complex and her health, all
should be taken into consideration, her lawyers say. The policy says
housing authorities should use discretion, but that's not being done,
Hornstein said.

A resident of the complex since it opened in the 1970s, Dowdell used to
serve lunch and breakfast to neighborhood children through a summer on-site
program. Now, she has difficulty moving about the small apartment. She uses
a walker and relies on her youngest son, Lovett, to help out.

She is hooked up to a dialysis machine three times a week and is fearful
about what will happen to her if she is kicked out and is unable to
continue the treatments.

"I don't know what will happen, but the doctors say don't miss it, so I
don't," the lifelong Winter Park resident said. "I'm scared to take a chance."