Illinois hasn't allowed smoking in restaurants, bars and most public buildings since January 2008. Government-owned public housing one of the exceptions.

Finally, that may be about to change. The leaders of St. Clair County's We Choose Health Initiative are pushing to make public housing smoke-free over the next few years.

It's a bold initiative that probably will result in a lot of griping and pushback. A person's home is his castle and all that.

But it's an obvious, logical health initiative. And as long as the taxpayers are paying the bills, the government gets to make the rules.

How anyone living in public housing can afford to smoke is beyond us. But if they or their guests want to smoke, they can do it outside. Even if they don't care about the consequences of smoking on their own health, smoking inside hurts the children living there, increases the potential of a fire and stains carpets, curtains and walls, which eventually will require costly repairs.

Taxpayers should not have to pay for people to smoke on their property any longer.