# So what do you think about the proposed nationwide ban on smoking in public housing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 12, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417 "2015-11-12T23:25:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/41 "2015-11-15T23:09:42Z")
I don’t see how it’s any different from public housing not allowing pets. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/42 "2015-11-15T23:33:10Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > I don’t see how it’s any different from public housing not allowing pets. Public and subsidized housing can allow pets if they so choose. If legislation prevented property owners or property managers from allowing pets even if they wanted to allow them we’d have a similar situation. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/43 "2015-11-16T01:35:17Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I am a smoker, and this is ridiculous. It’s absolutely about public health. Smoking has many deleterious health effects. In fact, there’s really nothing on schedule I that is as bad for you. Smoking is 110% a personal choice and nothing else. Second-hand smoke danger is complete and utter bullshit. And if you pretend to care about the long-term health of complete strangers you should see a psychiatrist for this neurosis. It is not normal. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/44 "2015-11-16T01:43:52Z")
What stuck out to me is they are considering banning e-cigarettes, too. I’m as anti-smoking as they get, but this is nothing more than harassing the poor. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/45 "2015-11-16T03:16:33Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Second-hand smoke danger is complete and utter bullshit. Tell that to my great aunt who died of lung cancer because of her husband’s smoking habit! She never smoked a day in her life. She essentially suffocated to death. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/46 "2015-11-16T04:50:30Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Public and subsidized housing can allow pets if they so choose. If legislation prevented property owners or property managers from allowing pets even if they wanted to allow them we’d have a similar situation. I’m just saying it’s the same principle. Owners of private complexes don’t allow pets and smoking because it costs. There’s more risk, there’s smoke damage, there’s the fumes and ash and smell. Pets can cause a lot of the same issues. I can see why an owner wouldn’t allow either. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/47 "2015-11-16T12:43:32Z")
How much will banning smoking save in redecoration costs? As a landlord myself, I know that I would have to completely redecorate between tenants if I had a tenant who was a smoker. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/48 "2015-11-16T14:30:18Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Smoking is 110% a personal choice and nothing else. Perhaps you could point out where I claimed it wasn’t? > [@](#): > > Second-hand smoke danger is complete and utter bullshit. Exaggerated, perhaps. But anyone who think it’s “bullshit” presumably hasn’t done any reading since about 1960. > [@](#): > > And if you pretend to care about the long-term health of complete strangers you should see a psychiatrist for this neurosis. It is not normal. Thanks, Dr. Freud. I call it “empathy.” ---
**Author:** ![UberArchetype](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/2bfe46/32.png) [@UberArchetype](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UberArchetype)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/49 "2015-11-16T14:48:52Z")
I could get behind a nationwide ban on smoking in public. Anywhere. Period. ---
**Author:** ![dflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dflower/32/3270_2.png) [@dflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dflower)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/50 "2015-11-16T15:03:08Z")
Stop and think about “government money” Public housing is directly paid for with such funds. How about a person that pays rent to a private landlord using social security or federal wages or retirement funds or veterans retirement funds. Is that government money? Does the public control all these funds? Do I as a taxpayer have control over all this money at all times and all links in the chain? Because I pay taxes, can I decide what you legally do in your living room? ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/51 "2015-11-16T15:50:41Z")
> [@dflower](#): > > Stop and think about “government money” > Public housing is directly paid for with such funds. How about a person that pays rent to a private landlord using social security or federal wages or retirement funds or veterans retirement funds. Is that government money? Does the public control all these funds? Do I as a taxpayer have control over all this money at all times and all links in the chain? Because I pay taxes, can I decide what you legally do in your living room? No, that’s not government money. Once SocSec or federal wages, etc., are paid out to the person to whom the government owes the money, it’s that person’s money, and they can waste it if they want. Money paid to public housing authorities is never within the control of the individual tenants. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/52 "2015-11-16T17:24:52Z")
Is all Section 8 housing privately owned? I thought we were talking about “projects”, but reading the wiki I see I didn’t understand how this works. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/53 "2015-11-16T17:51:58Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Is all Section 8 housing privately owned? I thought we were talking about “projects”, but reading the wiki I see I didn’t understand how this works. Section 8 housing is almost all privately owned, but the proposed rule doesn’t cover section 8 faciltiies–it really is about the “projects” and other properties in which the government is the primary owner. > [@](#): > > As stated above, this proposal would apply to all PHAs [Public Housing Authorities] of any size and Moving-to-Work (MTW) agencies, but it would only apply to public housing, and would not apply to dwelling units in a mixed-finance project. Public housing is defined as low-income housing, and all necessary appurtenances (e.g., community facilities, public housing offices, day care centers and laundry rooms) assisted under the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 (the 1937 Act), other than assistance under section 8 of the 1937 Act quoting [http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=smoke-freepublichousing.pdf](http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=smoke-freepublichousing.pdf) , p. 17 ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417/54 "2015-11-16T18:01:39Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > Section 8 housing is almost all privately owned, but the proposed rule doesn’t cover section 8 faciltiies–it really is about the “projects” and other properties in which the government is the primary owner. > > quoting [http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=smoke-freepublichousing.pdf](http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=smoke-freepublichousing.pdf) , p. 17 OK I, and perhaps others, really ought to read the facts before writing about this. Thanks. I was completely misunderstanding the situation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-think-about-the-proposed-nationwide-ban-on-smoking-in-public-housing/737417.md?page=2)