There was a line we always knew they'd cross eventually, and now they're starting to sneak over it. It's the line between how we must conform our public behavior and how free we are to live in peace in private:
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The Fort Wayne Housing Authority has approved a policy change that will prohibit smoking in all public housing units beginning Jan. 1, 2013.
Residents in Fort Wayne began receiving official notifications Thursday and residents will begin signing lease addendums that are due Dec. 31.
The Smoke-Free Policy was adopted Aug. 14 by the Board of Commissioners.
The addendums include language that the head of household will agree that each member of the residence, including guests, will not smoke in the apartment, the building, or within 20 feet of the building.
This is not, not not a health issue, at least not a public health issue; I don't care how often they spout that blather. Even if you accept the most extreme expressions of the dangers of secondhand smoke, the idea that someone smoking in one apartment is a risk to someone in another apartment is too laughable to even argue with. So, OK, maybe there's an odor issue. They gonna ban cooking cabbage, too?
Certainly, it can be pointed out that people smoking in their apartments might be risking the health of themselves and the other people who live there. But why should the management of the Fort Wayne Housing Authority concern themselves with that? Answer: Because they can. It's government housing, so the government gets to make the rules, and they represent the government. Can you say "paternalism"?
Hey, Housing Authroity residents. Feeling sorry for yourselves because poverty makes you feel like you have little control over your lives? You ain't seen nothin' yet.
