Here’s One More Thing The U.S. Government Wants To Ban You From Doing In Your Own Home (AUDIO)


Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro proposed a new rule Thursday, along with Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, that would require up to 1.2 million public housing units across the nation to go “entirely smoke-free.”

Under the new rule, some 3,100 agencies related to public housing would have as many as 18 months to implement the smoking ban, barring all cigarette, cigar and pipe-smoking “in all living units, indoor common areas and within 25 feet of buildings,” including administrative offices, according to NPR.

No word has been given thus far, however, as to how such a rule would affect the rights of medical marijuana users.

Castro’s new rule would increase smoke-free housing units across the country by almost 1 million, by HUD’s estimates, up from just over 228,000 units.

The proposal is rationalized by Castro in that it would help cut down on detrimental health risks linked to smoking, as well as potential fires within housing units.

“We have a responsibility to protect public housing residents from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, especially the elderly and children who suffer from asthma and other respiratory diseases,” Castro stated. “This proposed rule will help improve the health of more than 760,000 children and help public housing agencies save $153 million every year in health care, repairs and preventable fires.”

NPR reports a “HUD news release” states the above figures were taken from a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study back in 2014. That study claims $94 million could be saved in “secondhand smoke-related health care,” another $43 million in renovations of units where smoking is currently allowed, and still another $16 million saved in “smoking-related fire losses.”

HUD Office of Public and Indian Housing principal deputy assistant secretary Lourdes Castro Ramirez claims enforcing the rule will begin with an educational transition provided to housing residents. Ramirez told “Here & Now,” “The more they understand what the lease requirements are, the more ready and able they will be in terms of complying.”


Asked by “Here & Now’s” Jeremy Hobson if the proposed rule could potentially lead to the evictions of many currently living in public housing, Ramirez stated, “I’m not worried that that’s going to happen.” Pointing toward agencies that have banned smoking already, Ramirez added, “That has not been the effect. Quite the contrary, for some public housing residents, they’ve used this as an opportunity to quit smoking.”

While it is hard to believe Castro’s proposal will not bear some adverse effects in its implementation, time will tell whether HUD’s vision is accurate, or whether it is simply blowing smoke up our asses for the sake of following through on its money-saving agenda.

For this invasion of privacy, once again, you can thank the U.S. government.

Featured image by tm via WikiMedia, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.