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Ban in Hub could be nation's largest
Jump to full article: Boston (MA) Globe, 2010-07-27
Author: Jenifer B. McKim Globe Staff
Intro: Meena Carr figured out years ago why her young grandson, Malik, was chronically coughing and wheezing: Her home made him sick. Carr, 69, didn't smoke cigarettes, but some of her neighbors in the Washington-Beech housing development did, often in the hallway. The smell permeated Carr's apartment.
Last month, Washington-Beech in Roslindale became the city's first smoke-free public housing development. Today, Carr plans to join other community leaders, public officials, and housing advocates to discuss the Boston Housing Authority's more ambitious long-term objective -- clearing the air by 2013 at all 64 public housing developments.
That positions Boston to become the first city in Massachusetts, and perhaps the largest housing authority nationwide, to impose such a ban. Under the proposal, still in its initial stages, about 27,000 residents in 12,000 units would be prohibited from smoking in common areas and their own apartments.
"This new initiative will go a long way to encourage more healthy living styles for our residents,'' said Mayor Thomas M. Menino . . .
Today's meeting at Suffolk University is being billed by officials as a "summit'' to launch the campaign. Details, including how a ban would be phased in and how violators would be punished, are still unclear. Housing officials say the process will include community debate and a public comment period. By January, they hope to submit a proposal to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Nationwide, about 170 public housing authorities -- roughly 5 percent -- have instituted some kind of no-smoking policy
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