As if being poor weren’t bad enough, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has decided to ban smoking in all units of public housing (approximately 225k), across the country. The new rule is to be implemented over the next 18 months and was first proposed by HUD in the Fall of 2015. Of course residents who choose to smoke can go outside and/or to designated areas. Their rationale, as is often the case with regulations is this kind, is to help the children.
“Every child deserves to grow up in a safe, healthy home free from harmful second-hand cigarette smoke,” said Secretary Castro. “HUD’s smoke-free rule is a reflection of our commitment to using housing as a platform to create healthy communities. By working collaboratively with public housing agencies, HUD’s rule will create healthier homes for all of our families and prevent devastating and costly smoking-related fires.”
Editor’s note: Why not go ahead and ban all forms of criminal activity & vice (drugs, prostitution, gambling, stealing, etc) while you at it. That should make a tremendous difference in the quality of life for these communities and help local law enforcement reduce their workload.
