Kansas City Bans Smoking Inside Public Housing Apartments

By Carla Murphy May 05, 2014

In Kansas City, Missouri residents can no longer smoke indoors or in their own yards if they live in public housing. The smoking ban in all 1,700 units begins July 1 but smokers can seek a six-month extension to January 1, 2015. The Kansas City ban, which affects 5,000 families, 80 percent of whom are African-American, is part of a trend. Since 2009 and at HUD’s urging, according to The Kansas City Star, nearly one-third of public housing authorities around the country have implemented property-wide smoking bans.

Needless to say many KC public housing residents who smoke are, eh hem, unhappy. Besides the public health benefits, the ban raises privacy concerns and carries the potential for eviction if residents can’t control their addiction. Talk about new incentive to quit.