Smoking would be prohibited inside public housing units under new rules from the Obama administration.
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The nation’s public housing is facing a mandatory smoking ban under a new rule to be proposed today by the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, The NY Times reports. The ban would include common areas and administrative offices in public housing.
The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposal and individual housing agencies would be given up to 18 months from the date of the final rule to put their smoke-free policies in place.
“Everyone-no matter where they live-deserves a chance to grow up in a healthy, smoke-free home”, said Murthy.
Secondhand smoke exposure causes respiratory health problems like asthma and ear infections in children and infants, and leads to heart disease, stroke and lung cancer in adults, according to the CDC. So, when 58 million Americans-including 15 million children-are exposed to secondhand smoke, we have an obligation to act. Currently, there are almost 1.2 million public housing units across the country.
Since 2009, HUD has been encouraging public housing agencies to adopt smoke-free policies, with about 600 agencies overseeing a few 228,000 housing units having already made the change since then.
The impact of the prohibition would be felt most heavily by the NY City Housing Authority, which is known as Nycha and houses more than 400,000 people in about 178,000 apartments.
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HUD’s proposed smoke-free rule will also help reduce damage and maintenance costs associated with smoking.
