Smoking ban plan for USA public housing

The agencies must design policies prohibiting lighted tobacco products in all living units, indoor common areas, administrative offices, and all outdoor areas near housing and administrative office buildings, HUD officials said.

The federal government on Thursday proposed to ban smoking at public housing – inside and out – nationwide, The Associated Press reported.

“You should be able to do what you want to do inside your home as long as it’s not illegal”. How are you going to know they’re smoking in the house?

“It’s ridiculous, I don’t even smoke, but it’s ridiculous though”, said Brenda Pinchon.

Similarly, Annapolis, Maryland banned smokinghttp://www.capitalgazette.com/cg2-arc-140428cn-smoke-20140428-story.html in the city’s public housing properties in 2014, according to the Capital Gazette.

“Residents of the housing authority suffer disproportionately from diseases like diabetes and heart disease and asthma, and so these people also can not choose to live in an apartment complex that is already protecting their health”, said Tobacco Free Wyandotte Coordinator Rebecca Garza.

There are 26 housing authorities in South Dakota, managing public housing. “I like to look out for other people’s well being”, McKay said. “I don’t see anyone smoking outside or in the building”, she said. “We just want to make our properties smoke-free so they’re safer for everyone”. Under the new rule, should it go into effect, it would ban all smoking inside residences, in indoor common areas, as well as in administrative buildings.

“With 41,000 deaths a year for second hand smoke, these are things that we can do, we are working on”, Benson said. If it passes, the housing authority will implement the new policy in their developments within 18 months.

On the other side are consumer advocates and e-cigarette trade groups, who say including the devices in smoking bans would discourage people from transitioning from cigarettes to a likely less harmful alternative. That’s why we at the Baltimore City Health Department applaud HUD’s decision to eliminate smoking in public housing. Shola Olatoye, Nycha’s chairwoman and president expressed doubt about how a smoking ban would be enforced in NY. We’re talking about people who definitionally do not have a lot of financial resources: single parents, the elderly, the disabled.

“It’s a fraught process because to do it properly you need community buy-in”, said Ms Sunia Zaterman, executive director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities. It’s an intrusive rule, she said.

The measure is likely to anger thousands of Americans who smoke and live in public housing, and implementation adds an additional strain on the already overburdened HUD.

“It is no secret there is an environmental, quality of life, and health impact related to second-hand smoke”.