Due to a rule passed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, all public housing became smoke free on July 30. This means that all living units and all indoor common areas in public housing and public housing administrative buildings are now smoke free. This is good news for the 83 percent of Wisconsinites who don’t smoke (2016 stats)! It’s also a step in the right direction for ALL property owners who can choose to make their properties smoke free, too.

Wisconsin has done well in ensuring that our public places are smoke free, and smoking rates are coming down, but initiation rates are, too, and that’s bad. Our youth are now starting to smoke much earlier, due in no small part to e-cigarettes. In fact, in Wisconsin, 13 percent of high school students currently use e-cigarettes, surpassing the use of conventional cigarettes.