Challenges to implementing nationwide ban on smoking in public housing

Negative responses by public housing residents to HUD’s new smoking ban are attracting media attention across the country. Residents forced to smoke more than 25 feet from a HUD property say they feel shamed and unsafe. Many also report not having been consulted on how to implement the ban. A resident quoted in an article published by Pew’s Stateside says she believes that “this isn’t about protecting nonsmokers. This is an effort to get smokers to quit.” Read the Pew article: www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2018/08/20/a-new-smoking-ban-in-public-housing-roils-some-residents

Building Success offers guidance on how to help residents who smoke feel respected, provide smokers with safe places to smoke, and engage residents in planning and implementation. Building Success was developed to support efforts to implement smoke-free policies by sharing practical ideas and insights from housing providers and residents who went smoke-free prior to the policy mandate.