On Thursday, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is formally proposing a nationwide ban on smoking in all public housing, making nearly a million households smoke-free. "The argument about secondhand smoke is over," HUD Secretary Julián Castro told The New York Times. "It's harmful, and we believe it's important that we have an environment that's healthy in public housing."
A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that a nationwide smoking ban in public housing would save about $153 million a year in health care and building maintenance costs, and some public housing authorities have already enacted bans. But other public housing groups expressed concern about how such a ban would be enforced. The biggest challenge will be for the New York City Housing Authority, the nation's biggest, with some 400,000 people in 178,000 apartments and no smoking ban in place. The public has 60 days to comment on the proposal, and if finalized, public housing authorities have 18 months to enact the bans.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Long summer days in Iceland's highlandsThe Week Recommends While many parts of this volcanic island are barren, there is a 'desolate beauty' to be found in every corner
-
The Democrats: time for wholesale reform?Talking Point In the 'wreckage' of the election, the party must decide how to rebuild
-
5 deliciously funny cartoons about turkeysCartoons Artists take on pardons, executions, and more
-
Global court issues arrest warrant for NetanyahuSpeed Read The International Criminal Court issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who stand accused of war crimes
-
Gaetz bows out, Trump pivots to Pam BondiSpeed Read Gaetz withdrew from attorney generation consideration, making way for longtime Trump loyalist Pam Bondi
-
GOP's Mace seeks federal anti-trans bathroom banSpeed Read Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has introduced legislation to ban transgender people from using federal facilities
-
Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid warSpeed Read Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles and Russia threatened retaliation
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freezeSpeed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
-
Wyoming judge strikes down abortion, pill bansSpeed Read The judge said the laws — one of which was a first-in-the-nation prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy — violated the state's constitution
-
US sanctions Israeli West Bank settler groupSpeed Read The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Amana, Israel's largest settlement development organization
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emergeSpeed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
