James Cerda, a 64-year-old Goleta man, claims he’s being evicted from his apartment — owned by the Santa Barbara County Housing Authority — because he smokes medicinal marijuana to deal with post-traumatic stress. Cerda says the Housing Authority recently imposed new no-smoking rules in his apartment complex, located on Magnolia Avenue. Cerda said he received an eviction notice within the past month and has vowed to fight it. He said he told housing authority officials years ago that he had a medical marijuana recommendation. Cerda said he spent six years in the military, two of which were served in Alaska. A graduate of UCSB and onetime county social service worker, Cerda said he’s lived in his current apartment complex — off and on — for more than 10 years. Because of holiday schedules, no one from the Housing Authority was available to comment. The Santa Barbara City Housing Authority, however, does not — as a policy or practice — seek to evict tenants who consume medical marijuana.
