The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has given public housing authorities until the end of July to ban the use of cigarettes, cigars, pipes and waterpipes in certain areas of the property. This means no smoking, even of a hookah, inside public housing living units, indoor common areas, public housing administrative office buildings, public housing community rooms or facilities, public housing day care and laundry rooms.

It also banned smoking within 25 feet of the entrances to those areas and within any area the PHA determined should be smoke-free, such as a playground.

While the deadline isn’t until the end of this month, Athens Housing Authority residents and staff have already been smoke-free for almost a year. October will mark one full year since AHA went smoke-free, and resident Sheree Ford has had plenty of positive things to say about the shift.

“I’ve cut way back since they put the no-smoking policy in the house or on the porch,” said the former two-pack-a-day smoker. Ford is now down to half a pack each day, and she cuts herself off entirely after 5 p.m.

“It has made my house smell better,” she said. “It really has.”

Ford said her children, who don’t smoke, used to only go as far as her front porch. She spent two months cleaning her apartment so it no longer looked or smelled like a smoker’s home, and she’s proud to say her children now come inside when they visit.

“My walls are a lot better, too,” she said. “I cleaned all the walls and stuffed animals. I couldn’t believe all the nicotine that was on my pictures and everything.”

She even enlisted the help of a neighbor to get her curtains down so she could wash the smoke smell from her drapes. Beyond the aesthetic, however, Ford said she has noticed improvements in her health.

“I’ve noticed I’ve started to breathe a little bit better,” she said. “I also sleep better at night. Nicotine keeps you up, you know.”

Ford started smoking when she was teenager and “thought it was cool.” Now 58, she is one of the almost 70 percent of smokers who want to quit.

“I hope to eventually quit,” Ford said. “I’ve been smoking since I was 16, and it’s going to take a while.”

Making the change

When transitioning to smoke free, AHA Executive Director Larry Pippins said one of the main goals was making sure residents had plenty of time to adjust to the idea.

“There’s gonna be some difficulties with people who have been smoking for a while, of course,” Pippins said. “We don’t want to make it so hard so quick that they get frustrated. We want them to still feel at home.”

The housing authority held meetings and provided 60-day notices to residents before implementing the changes. Ford said she took her notice as a sign to start preparing early.

“I started smoking outside early,” she said. “I threw all my ashtrays away.”

Picnic tables were placed strategically throughout each public housing complex to give smokers a place to rest but also to help mark the required 25-foot distance from a building. Pippins said the plan is to provide ashtrays at the picnic table to deter litter from smokers who use the tables.

He said Ford was not the only one who saw a significant decrease in the time spent smoking, either.

“We’ve had people who really quit,” Pippins said. “One guy quit cold turkey, about three months ago, and he hasn’t smoked since. We’ve had some real success stories.”

Ford said residents who break the rules face a $250 fine for their first offense and eviction on their second offense. They face the same consequences if one of their visitors breaks the rules, she said.

Becoming a quitter

Smoking cessation assistance is also offered to those who wish to live smoke free. Pippins said no one has come to AHA for help yet, but they are willing to work with anyone who does.

“We’ll check with the Alabama Department of Public Health and other places, and that’s how we’ll do ours,” he said.

ADPH is seeking to reduce the smoking prevalence rate for all adults to 18 percent by 2020. As of 2013, 21.5 percent of adults smoked.

Some residents are eligible for free smoking cessation aids, such as free nicotine replacement therapy patches. The Alabama Medicaid Agency covers nicotine replacement therapy lozenges, chewing gum, inhalation cartridges, nasal spray and transdermal patches. Prescription medications, such as Chantix, are also covered.

The Alabama Tobacco Quitline offers free coaching services by telephone or web. Information, referrals and coaching are confidential, and those who qualify can receive a free eight-week supply of nicotine replacement therapy patches. To learn more, visit quitnowalabama.com or call 1-800-QUITNOW.

Whether residents choose to quit entirely or just quit smoking inside, Pippins said the difference is clear and will only get clearer.

“It’s gonna save money,” he said, referring to repair and health costs, “but it’s gonna save lives. That’s more important than the work.”