U.S. officials announced Wednesday smoking will be banned in public housing residences starting next year. The federal government's historic decision to make all public housing properties smoke-free will protect millions of children and adults from dangerous secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and at least 69 that cause cancer and this is the next step in protecting the public from secondhand smoke. According to the U.S. Surgeon Genera secondhand smoke causes tens of thousands of deaths nationwide each year, and there is no safe level of exposure.
