Housing authorities in the U.S. city of Houston on Friday instituted a smoke-free policy intended to snuff out the consequences of direct or secondhand tobacco exposure, local media reported. The Houston Housing Authority, which is responsible for public housing for low-income, elderly and disabled residents, said that beginning this month smoking is prohibited at the agency's 25 public housing and tax credit properties throughout the city, the website of local daily newspaper the Houston Chronicle reported. That means residents are no longer allowed to smoke inside their units, in common areas, in offices or within 25 feet (7.6 meters) of main entrances. The policy affects members of the 5,500 families residing in housing authority properties and their guests, as well as agency employees, according to the report. All residents were asked to sign lease amendments that incorporate the new policy, which will be enforced as of April 1, housing authority president and CEO Tory Gunsolley told the Chronicle. Last year, the agency's board also decided to make all new housing developments smoke-free. Houston is among some U.S. cities with an ordinance that bans smoking in public places. The Houston Housing Authority is the latest agency to forbid residential smoking. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 44 million U.S. adults - or 19 percent of those 18 and older - smoke cigarettes. Cigarette smoking is the nation's leading cause of preventable death.