Three strikes and you’re out

The Tampa House Authority (THA) in Florida, US, is implementing a ‘three strikes and you’re out rule’ in relation to smoking in its public housing, according to a News Talk Florida story.

Towards the end of last year, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued its final rule on cigarette use in taxpayer-funded housing that requires the country’s 3,100 Public Housing Agencies to adopt smoke-free policies by the fall of 2018.

It has been left up to the housing authorities how to enforce the rule.

Some residents of the Robles Village Park in Tampa are not happy about the way that the rule is being applied.

Shelia Williams, who has lived at the park for five years and is trying to quit smoking, said officials had made a sudden change rather than allowing current residents a chance to be grandfathered in by applying the rules only to new residents.

Reva Iman is another resident who has a problem with the ban and he intends to deliver to the THA board a residents’ petition.

“When you’re paying your bills, and you’re abiding by most of the rules here on this property, how can you tell someone you can’t smoke in your units?” Iman was quoted as saying.