As health concerns have marginalized smoking as a public practice, many in public housing units no longer offer the option of smoking or nonsmoking apartments. From Boston, to Detroit, to San Antonio, public housing agencies across the country are banning indoor smoking. Massachusetts officials are hoping such bans will eventually be enacted statewide. While many champion the efforts to fight the health risks posed by secondhand smoke, others see the bans as a burden– particularly for the elderly and disabled.
At Roosevelt Towers in Cambridge, smoking outdoors will soon become more common as the City of Cambridge readies to enact a no smoking law they adopted in Fall 2013. The Cambridge Housing Authority’s James Comer says the new policy banning smoking in Cambridge's public housing is necessary, but recognizes it will be tough for some residents: "There are many residents who don’t smoke, and who are currently subject to the dangers of second-hand smoke," he says, adding that "we felt like in the interests in the health of all of our residents, this was the right move for the housing authority."
Comer recognizes the potentially dramatic impact on some residents' lives noting that "it’s gonna be a challenge for a lot of folks" But Cambridge resident, and smokers rights advocate, Stephen Helfer sees it as much more than a simple "challenge." For him, being able to smoke at home is a "last refuge," and he points out that the new bylaws that enforce eviction are "punitive measures."
So far, Cambridge and Boston have enacted such smoking bans in their city-owned public housing. Tenants in state-owned housing can still smoke in their units, but that may also change under new state guidelines urging all housing agencies to go "smoke free." Helfer says such bans are unfair, noting that "when a habit becomes associated with the poor, as it has become, more and more punitive measures are taken." Although some smoke-free efforts have targeted both public and private housing– as in Boston– Helfer argues that those in public housing are easy targets. "Public housing is the low hanging fruit," he says. "These people have even less rights than people in private housing, so it’s easier to impose this."
But James Comer insists the ban is not targeting behavior– nor will it screen out potential applicants who smoke. Comer understands that smoking "is a personal choice that people can make for themselves." He doesn't see the measures as punishing, but rather something in the public interest: "We’re just saying it’s gotten to the point where we feel it’s not in the best interest of all of our residents and the best interests of their health for folks to be smoking on CHA property." The Cambridge Housing Authority's smoking ban won’t be implemented until August. Whether the rest of the state’s public housing agencies share that philosophy remains to be seen.
