WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — Smoking is now prohibited in most Illinois public buildings, including restaurants, taverns, hotels and work places. And now the Lake County Housing Authority is considering pushing the smoking ban even further.

It is discussing banning smoking in all of its public housing units, which would be an unprecedented move in Illinois.

David Northern, the Lake County Housing Authority executive director, notes that the agency has a high population of persons with disabilities, senior citizens and lower income individuals who have health problems and no available care. He says it is not right for such people to have to have to deal with secondhand smoke.

Roughly 80 public housing authorities in 15 states from California to Maine have adopted smoke-free policies, but none so far in Illinois.