'I've always been a warrior': Navy vet on medical marijuana fights over subsidized housing
YORK, Pa. – On a foggy morning in February, Mary Cease woke up in a hotel room alone.
It was strange – waking up to an alarm instead of her dog, Bridgett, pawing at her toes. But Bridgett was miles away, and a car would soon be parked outside waiting for Mary. So she would just have to take a hit of her marijuana vape now, and let the strange sink in later.
At first, she stared out the window of the car, watching the city buildings – and her anxiety – grow larger as she got closer. But then Mary, who has chronic pain, settled back in her seat as she felt the burning and squeezing in her spine start to ebb.
This relief always seemed like a good thing to Mary, a Navy veteran who has metal rods in her back to straighten out her spine and who was diagnosed with PTSD in the aftermath of an abusive marriage.
But now she finds herself the collateral damage of a conflict between state and federal laws on pot. She has been denied federally subsidized housing because she admitted on her application to using a portion of her Social Security payments to pay for cannabis.
On that February morning, her case would be presented to three judges at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. And unless those judges side with her, she will be forced to choose between medical marijuana, which is legal in Pennsylvania but not under federal law, and federal public housing assistance.
"I never thought that taking my medicine could lead to homelessness," Mary, 68, said. "But here we are."
From Navy veteran to medical marijuana patient
Mary became a medical marijuana patient in February 2018.
She’s suffered from back problems for as long as she can remember, and her stint in the Navy did not make things any better. She was discharged after a third back surgery left her with chronic pain – a pain so excruciating and debilitating that she struggles now to describe it.
"It ... it’s just awful," Mary said, sounding winded as she put the words together. "It’s like someone is stabbing me with knives."
Her doctors prescribed her opioids in 2013 to ease the pain.
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Mary remembers reading all about the highly addictive painkillers.
"I didn’t like it. I’m just not a druggy person," Mary said. "I don’t drink, and I really didn’t like taking the stuff but I didn’t know what else to do."
She worried she would become dependent on the pills, so her doctor recommended she switch to cannabis once the state made it legal.
"She wanted to avoid going down the path to addiction," said her lawyer, Judith Cassel. "That should be celebrated. She shouldn’t be losing her housing as some sort of punishment."
A second qualifying condition, PTSD
After her marriage of nearly 15 years ended suddenly, Mary had no choice but to seek Section 8 housing in Wilkes Barre.
"It’s the same story so many women go through," she said. "It’s not a big deal anymore."
Her husband came home from work one day in a bad mood. He slammed his fist into her face and threw her across the floor.
"I’m kind of glad that it happened," she said. "Because it opened my eyes and gave me the courage to just pick up and say that’s enough. I got up and called the police and had him arrested."
Days later, Mary found herself at a women’s shelter in need of housing assistance, and almost instantly, they found her a place to live.
"I picked myself up and I moved on with my life," she said so matter-of-factly. "But it’s not always easy."
Following her abuse, Mary was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, which, like her chronic pain diagnosis, is a qualifying condition for medical marijuana in Pennsylvania.
She would get anxious of her surroundings, become timid when men raised their voices or got too close to her, and feared retaliation from her ex-husband. It’s what eventually drove her out of Wilkes Barre, seeking refuge in Indiana County where she had friends and a support system.
When she got to Indian County in 2018, Mary once again found herself seeking federally subsidized housing.
"I wish I didn’t have to live like this," she said. "It’s a matter of pride, it really is. But between groceries and transportation and everything else, I couldn’t do it alone. I needed that help."
She submitted an application to Indian County’s housing authority for a Section 8 voucher, which would allow her to move into a private apartment that the federal program subsidizes.
The application asks some standards questions — age, race, income.
But when disclosing the particulars of her income, Mary noted that she uses a portion her roughly $10,000-a-year Social Security payments to pay for her medical marijuana.
Once an Indiana County official saw that admission, she was disqualified from the program.
Marijuana has been approved for medical use in 33 states and the District of Columbia.
But under the federal Controlled Substances Act, cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug, the same category as heroin and LSD, and it’s considered to be highly addictive and to have no medical value.
Mary appealed the housing authority’s decision twice, but was turned away each time. And in April, a Court of Common Pleas judge gave her the same answer.
"I just couldn’t believe it," Mary said. "I really couldn’t believe it. It’s discrimination."
How medical marijuana has changed her life
With the Housing Authority’s decisions feeling permanent, Mary considered what her life would be like if she stopped taking medical marijuana and switched back to prescription opioids.
The prospect scared her. She remembered lying bed-ridden unable to combat the piercing sensations in her spine, paralyzed by the pain. She remembered being approached on the street by a man and feeling hot and angry.
"I feel so much better since I started using medical marijuana," Mary said. "I’m sleeping better. My attention span is better. I’m more interested in everything than I was before."
While still taking the legal but potentially deadly painkillers, Mary described herself as lethargic. She lacked motivation to do everyday tasks and rarely found herself in the mood to socialize with anyone other than her emotional support dog, Bridgett.
She prefers the life she has as a medical marijuana patient.
"I’m able to do a lot more now than I could before – I can go to concerts. I can spend a day at the library. I can go shopping. I can visit friends," Mary said. "It’s just, it’s endless. I have more energy. I’m happier and I don’t worry about things anymore like I used to."
She wasn’t ready to give that up yet, but she also wasn’t ready to be homelessness, so she put up a fight.
She has been bombarded with negative comments since she started this whole appeal process.
"They say, 'You can’t pay your rent, but you can buy marijuana,' or 'With that income you should be able to find some sort of housing,'" Mary said. "Well they don’t stop and realize that you need to buy a car to work or to get to the grocery store. There’s so many other things the ordinary person can afford, and we can’t. It makes you feel like you’re ... you’re beneath even being a human being. They want to sweep you under the carpet like you’re disgusting."
Mary would work if she could, she said, but as a 68-year-old living with chronic pain, it's just not feasible.
'Iit’s not just for me'
On Feb. 13, a panel of three Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judges met at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and heard an appeal by Harrisburg-based attorneys on behalf of Mary. She sat in the room and watched.
"I’m doing it because it’s not just for me," Mary said. "It’s for thousands of other people facing the same problem. I’m setting the precedent."
Her lawyers argue that under the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act discrimination for using the medicine is prohibited, and the only class of people prohibited from residing in federally subsidized housing is sex offenders.
The appeal also claims Mary’s use of medical marijuana does not constitute the illegal use of a controlled substance because it is recognized as a medicine by the state of Pennsylvania.
Kevin McKeon, the attorney whose firm took the case pro-bono, also argued that the housing authority has the power to use discretion.
In simplest terms, McKeon explained, the law says federally assisted housing programs can turn away new applicants for illegal drug use but can use their own discretion for current residents.
Since Mary lived in federally subsidized housing for four years in Wilkes Barre, should the housing authority consider her a current or a new applicant?
Indiana County is arguing that Mary is a new applicant – she filled out an application. It’s as simple as that. But McKeon is fighting for the county to acknowledge her previous voucher in Luzerne County.
Cassel said Mary’s case speaks to a broader problem.
"We have a federal law that outlaws any use of marijuana," Cassel said. "But we’re living in a state with some exceptions to that law. In the past, lines were very clear and now they aren’t. And citizens are the ones suffering the most because of this."
The judges have heard both arguments, and now Mary is in a state of limbo, waiting for their decision, which could take up to 90 days to file.
Even if Mary prevails, it only means the Housing Authority of Indiana County could accept her application. They still would not be obligated to accept her application.
"And if that happens, then we’ll just take our case up to the Supreme Court," Mary said. "I’m a warrior. I’ve always been a warrior. I’m not going to let anyone push me around or tell me how to live."
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Medical marijuana user fights back after being denied federal housing
