United States proposes a ban on smoking in all public housing

A 2014 CDC study found that banning smoking in public housing would save $94 million a year in health costs related to secondhand smoke and more than $50 million annually in averted fire losses and maintenance costs (“Federal Eye”, Washington Post, 11/12).

Still, many argue that federal law does nothing to prohibit landlords from enacting a smoke-free policy for their buildings.

“Officials say, however, there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke, making eliminating secondhand smoke altogether the only option”, Slate’s report indicated. “That’s why we do it for the public”, he said.

The government would task those agencies with creating policies to prohibit tobacco in living units, indoor common areas, administrative offices and outdoor areas near facilities.

He said it just doesn’t make sense to spend those dollars on smoking, when they could be spent on other things residents really need.

That’s the message behind a new federal proposal to ban smoking in and outside all public housing units across the country.

“That’s private. You can do everything you want in your apartment”. It was banned in units in 2012 and outside buildings in 2013.

Hollywood East Apartments in Portland have been smoke-free since 2009.

“If you get sex with your wife, they’re going to check your sex too?”

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 public housing agencies.

In 2009, HUD began encouraging public housing agencies nationwide to adopt smoke-free policies in their buildings and common areas.

Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, killing 480,000 people each year, the surgeon general says.

“This is a natural step to continue to spread the smoke-free protections that started with workplaces and then spread to restaurants and bars”, said Michael Siegel, professor of Community Health Sciences at Boston University’s School of Public Health. If finalized, the proposed smoke-free rule announced today would expand the impact to more 940,000 public housing units.

Jamila Michener, assistant professor of government at Cornell University, called the rule a “misdirection of energy”, according to NBC NY.

The public has about two months to comment.