Public housing could soon go smoke-free, but not all residents are reacting positively to the change. “We have nothing against smokers but the smoking has to be taken elsewhere”, said William Abrashkin, the executive director of the Springfield Housing Authority. “You might as well have us all chained up in bondage now”.
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The new prohibition applies to, “all living units, indoor common areas in public housing …” But Thursday’s proposal would bring more than 940,000 other units into the fold.
“I would not like that”.
Non-smokers said they would appreciate not having to smell smoke as often.
“With the children themselves they can’t do nothing about it, but it will harm them with secondhand smoke”, said Sheena Dehaney, who also lives in Bay Pointe.
Everyone – no matter where they live – deserves a chance to grow up in a healthy, smoke-free home. He cited several benefits among them saving kids and elderly tenants from inhaling unsafe secondhand smoke.
Those opposed argue the move is an overreach, preventing people from doing an otherwise legal activity in their own homes, according to Slate.
His 77-year-old neighbor, Juan Manuel Cabrera, disagreed. He’s been smoking for 67 years, he said, and no federal edict is going to stop him from lighting up in his own house.
“I don’t agree with that”, said Napue.
The proposal specifies that smoking cigarettes, cigars and pipes would be banned from all living units, administrative offices, common spaces and areas within 7.5 meters of public housing. Smoking also would be prohibited outdoors within 25 feet of buildings. Electronic cigarettes, which emit vapor, would not be subject to the ban. HUD’s proposed rule would require more than 3,100 public housing agencies (PHAs) across the country to implement smoke-free policies in their developments within 18 months of the final rule.
“The clock starts today”, said Ed Cabrera, a HUD spokesman in San Francisco. CBS NY reports residents at a public housing complex in Queens had mixed feelings about the federal ban, which would prohibit smoking inside apartments.
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The policy will probably become part of each lease agreement, and enforcement will depend largely on complaints by other residents, Cabrera said. Currently, there are almost 1.2 million public housing units across the country. But an official said no one has actually been tossed out for smoking.
