New York Times Weighs in on Smoke-Free Housing
November 13, 2015
The New York Times Editorial Board chimed in on recent efforts by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to ban smoking in public housing nationwide.
The op-ed supported HUD’s movement.
From the story, published on Friday:
The Department of Housing and Urban Development, which announced the proposed rule change on Thursday, said it would apply to more than 700,000 public-housing units across the country. That’s probably about how many angry arguments smokers and their defenders could make for why this is a bad idea.
But the counterarguments are more persuasive, including protecting the health of nonsmokers — children especially — reducing property damage, saving money on cleaning, painting and maintaining apartments, and preventing fires.
Read the rest of the article here.
HUD has been encouraging housing authorities to ban smoking for several years. Troy Housing Authority began a three-phase approach going smoke-free in March 2014. In June 2015, the Board of Commissioners authorized the initiation of the final phase, which includes no smoking in residential units.
THA’s No Smoking Policy and Lease Addendum will become effective on January 1, 2016.