The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued a 63 page publication it is referring to as a “toolkit” for smoke-free housing. The cover letter in the toolkit is signed by executives of HUD, the American Lung Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Center for Disease control, and compliments notices H2010-21 (multifamily housing) and PIH2009-21 (public housing).
HUD states that it believes 75 percent of residents in both multifamily and public housing will support living in a smoke-free environment. Neverthless, the agency is placing “winning resident support” at the forefront of any effort to make housing smoke-free. HUD’s notices on the desirability for smoke-free housing make clear that pursuit of this goal is a voluntary one. The reason it is voluntary is that there is no federal law that mandates that public and assisted housing be smoke-free.
In addition to asserting that the use of tobacco products is not a legal right, and that smoke-free housing initiatives do not involve Constitutional issues, HUD has included some interesting statistics. For example, HUD states that the average cost of rehabilitating a dwelling unit occupied by a non-smoker is $560 as opposed to $1,810 for a household with a light smoker and a whopping $3,515 for a household occupied by a heavy smoker.
The toolkit recomends the following steps:
1. Survey Residents
2. Establish a timeframe for change
3. Inform residents of the benefits of a smoke-free environment
4. Include new policies with respect to leases and house rules
5. Promote and enforce smoke-free policies
6. Accomodate smokers, providing information and resources for residents who would like to quit smoking
In an important disclaimer, HUD notes that existing regulations and guidelines will take precedence over the contents of the toolkit and, because the toolkit was designed for multifamily housing, PHA requirements may involve different sets of procedures.