• March 28, 2024

Imposing public housing smoke ban

 Imposing public housing smoke ban

The Heartland Institute (HI) has described the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) final rule on cigarette use in taxpayer-funded housing as a mixed bag.

But the HI welcomed HUD’s decision that electronic cigarettes will not be included in its ban on smoking in publicly funded housing.

Other devices that do not involve the lighting of tobacco leaves, such as hookahs, also are allowed under the new ruling.

Originally announced in 2015, the HUD ban aims to lower building maintenance fees and health care costs linked with tobacco use.

“The … final rule on cigarette use in taxpayer-funded housing is a mixed bag, but it is encouraging that bureaucrats in the federal government realized that tobacco and e-cigarettes are not the same thing,” said Jesse Hathaway, a budget policy expert at the HI.

“E-cigarette use does not create the same externalities as tobacco use, because there are no tobacco leaves burning, so it would not have made sense to ban e-cigarette use in the name of public health, as some local and state governments have incorrectly decided to do.

“Ideally, HUD would not ban tobacco use in the taxpayer-funded housing units, but excluding e-cigarettes from a ban on tobacco is definitely a step in the right direction for the federal government.”

The HI describes itself as a 32-year-old national non-profit organization whose mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems.

The R Street Institute, meanwhile, welcomed HUD’s plan to require the US’ 3,100 Public Housing Agencies to adopt smoke-free policies by the fall of 2018.

R Street describes itself as a non-profit, non-partisan public policy research organization whose mission is to promote free markets and limited, effective government.

“HUD is to be commended for the work they have done this past decade to pave the way for smoke-free public housing nationwide,” said R Street senior fellow,, Dr. Joel Nitzkin. “Their process of working with and through local housing management and with smokers to enable them either to quit or simply not to smoke in or around housing units also deserves commendation. This is not the heavy hand of government telling people how to live their lives. This is common courtesy and a major victory for the health of both smokers and other residents, and the cleanliness of the housing complex. People already are accustomed to smoking prohibitions in workplaces, bars, restaurants, shops and even in some stadiums and other outside venues.

“We have now reached the point in the United States where less than 25 percent of adults smoke, and less than half of them smoke daily. In recent years, many who otherwise would have been unable or unwilling to quit have found they can cease or reduce their intake of cigarettes by switching to nicotine products that are vastly safer, such as smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes. Importantly, the new HUD rules do not bar such products, which will be a help to those trying to break the habit.

“Even with such a small number of smokers, smoking remains the number one preventable cause of death in the United States, with millions suffering from smoking-related or smoking-aggravated heart and lung disease and multiple types of cancer. Given the ready availability of snus (no-spit smokeless tobacco), e-cigarette-like vapor products now good enough to satisfy the urge to smoke for most smokers, at far less cost than cigarettes; as well as gums, patches, and other products – there is simply no reason for anyone to be exposed to the carbon monoxide, tar and thousands of toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke.

“Public housing units are of special concern because of the number of infants, asthmatic children, pregnant women, and chronically ill and elderly residents – all of whom are especially sensitive to the toxins in tobacco smoke. Employers, shopkeepers and others have had remarkably little difficulty in making and keeping their facilities smoke-free. Public housing units, and all other multiple dwelling unit structures should offer the same to all who live, work and visit their properties.”

The HUD rule prohibits lit tobacco products in all living units, indoor common areas, administrative offices and all outdoor areas within 25 feet of housing and administrative office buildings, effective no later than 18 months from the effective date of the rule. While a ban on the use of vapor devices is not included in the rule; officials have said that such a ban might be introduced in the future.