U.S. smoking ban to hit public housing nationwide
A new rule banning smoking in public housing developments across the United States was announced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Wednesday.
The mandate will prohibit the use of lit tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and water pipes, also known as hookahs, inside residential units, common areas, and administrative offices in public housing residences. The restriction will also cover outside spaces within 25 feet of the buildings. Public housing agencies are given 18 months to put compliance policies in place.
In a statement, HUD highlights that per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the new smoke-free policy is expected to yield a total of $153 million in savings every year. This covers $94 million in secondhand smoke-related health care, $43 million in maintenance, and $16 million in repairs due to preventable fire losses.
HUD estimates that more than 1.2 million households will be affected but notes that around 200,000 are already complying with voluntary smoking bans initiated by several public housing agencies across the United States.
New York, which has the most number of federally owned apartments in the country, will be most impacted. The New York City Housing Authority manages about 178,000 buildings and more than 400,000 dwellers.
In line with their campaign against secondhand smoke, which is a known cause of various health problems including respiratory infections and asthma attacks especially among infants and children, groups such as the American Lung Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have long been lobbying for such mandate.
According to a CDC study last year, two in five children in government-subsidized housing suffer from exposure to second-hand smoke, Reuter reports.
"Every child deserves to grow up in a safe, healthy home free from harmful second-hand cigarette smoke," said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro in the statement posted on the department's website.
