Smokefree DC is a citizen-based group whose goal is to promote smokefree environments in Washington, DC.
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By Angela Bradbery, on May 19, 2010
Good news: A new apartment building on Massachusetts Avenue is making itself smokefree from the start.
Better news: The building owners, Equity Residential, views this as a selling point, and touts it on its website.
More info. is on UrbanTurf: The building, located at Massachusetts Avenue and Fourth Street NW, has two towers and 559 units. Read the comments at the bottom of UrbanTurf’s post; it’s great that people understand their right to breathe clean air in their own homes trumps other people’s right to smoke.
It’s worth making the point here that in multi-unit dwellings such as apartment and condo buildings, people can’t do whatever they want. They must abide by certain rules so they don’t disturb or harm their neighbors. For instance, they can’t have band practice at 3 a.m. or light a grill in their living rooms.
A smokefree policy is just another sensible rule to protect residents from the health harms of secondhand smoke, especially when you consider that cigarette smoke migrates through cracks, pipes and doors.
Look here for more information about what to do if a neighbor’s secondhand smoke is coming into your living space.
By Angela Bradbery, on May 18, 2010
The Virgin Islands is going smokefree.
Gov. John deJohng Jr. has signed a bill that makes all public indoor spaces and workplaces smokefree, including bars and restaurants.
The only problem: According to the Virgin Islands Daily News, deJohng wants to tinker with the definition of “enclosed area.”
Let’s hope he doesn’t water down the law.
By Angela Bradbery, on May 14, 2010
If you are a condo owner and need some guidance about making your complex smokefree, here’s one resource to check out: “How to Make a Condo Complex Smokefree” from the Technical Legal Assistance Center, which is funded by the California Department of Health.
While the details pertain to California law, the overall advice is sound no matter where you are. The paper discusses options ranging from making common areas smokefree to strengthening the nuisance clause of the condo rules to making the whole building smokefree.
By Angela Bradbery, on May 4, 2010
Children who live in apartments are exposed to secondhand smoke even if they live with non-smokers, according to a new study from the University of Rochester Medical Center. Researchers found that an astounding 84 percent of kids who lived in apartments had been exposed to tobacco smoke.
Amazingly, 70 percent of children in detached housing had been exposed to secondhand smoke.
It’s worth noting that the carcinogens and other chemicals in secondhand smoke are especially harmful to children.
It’s yet another reason to make apartwhole apartment buildings and condos smokefree.
By Angela Bradbery, on April 28, 2010
Michigan goes smokefree on Saturday, May 1, and people are, appropriately, planning to celebrate.
Under the new law, which was signed in Decemer 2009, bars and restaurants will be smokefree, although casinos will be exempt. For more information, visit Americans for Non-Smokers’ Rights and the state of Michigan’s Web site.
Congratulations on your smokefree status Michigan!
By Angela Bradbery, on April 25, 2010
As April winds down, so too does the American Lung Association’s DC chapter (see previous post). Finally someone in the local media covered this – WAMU’s Rebecca Sheir. The good news is that the quitline that ALA DC has been running will continue at United Medical Center, thanks to a grant from the D.C. Cancer Consortium and the D.C. Department of Health.
The bad news is that the money runs out at the end of September. It’s unclear whether the funds will be found to continue it.
Go to www.wamu.org/news and scroll down to the April 23 story, “Anti-Tobacco Agency In D.C. Faces Uncertain Future.”
By Angela Bradbery, on April 12, 2010
Go to the Web site of the American Lung Association’s (ALA) District of Columbia chapter, and you’ll see this:
ALADC to Close its Doors This Spring.”
The item explains that as part of a restructuring, the D.C. chapter, as well as those in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, will close soon.
You’ll also see this item, a bit farther down:
“ALADC Announces an Historic Decline in District Smokers.”
That might leave you scratching your head.
What? An organization that contributed to a historic decline in smoking rates is shutting its doors just as it is part of an enormous success?
That’s right. It’s all about numbers and is linked to an overall restructuring started years ago by the national ALA. That’s the explanation, but it’s not the full story. Continue reading American Lung Association’s DC Chapter to Close
By Angela Bradbery, on April 7, 2010
The smokers finally moved out from 1150 K St. NW, a 130-unit condominium building, this week.
So ends a saga that involved the property management company, the condo board (which held a meeting and a hearing about the case), two property owners, a contractor, one attorney and multiple residents of the building. In the end, the owner of the unit where the smokers resided was fined hundreds of dollars, and the condo’s nuisance policy was strengthened to include secondhand smoke.
Peter Barbera and Kassi Saridakis, whose non-smoking tenants were affected by the smoke, are pleased it’s over. But they are weary from the battle, which cost them a huge amount of time and a not insignificant sum of money.
The situation, Saradakis rightly notes, highlights a gaping hole in the regulatory system:
“If we complain about noise and we call the police, they come right away,” Saradakis said. “But with secondhand smoke, which harms our health, no one is going to come out.”
It’s a problem that many may encounter in multi-unit dwellings like condos and apartment buildings: Cigarette smoke from a nearby unit comes into other units through ducts, hallways and crevices. The common area hallways smell of cigarette smoke, and nonsmokers find their units uninhabitable and can sometimes even develop health problems.
We told you earlier this year about a resident of a Connecticut Avenue building who waged – and won – a year-long battle make her unit habitable.
Here is the story of the Barbera, Saridakis and their tenants. Continue reading Secondhand smoke wars: Kassi’s story
By Angela Bradbery, on April 1, 2010
Want to know which states have smokefree laws that cover bars and restaurants, in addition to workplaces? How about what percentage of the U.S. population is covered by indoor smokefree air laws?
Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, which does a terrific job of keeping track of every last smokefree law and proposal throughout the country, has updated its great maps and lists.
You can learn, for instance, that 1,7,57 municipalities restrict smoking in one or more outdoor areas, including enclosed places, and 1,152 municipalities limit smoking in public outdoor places like parks and beaches. ANR also helps groups like Smokefree DC get smokefree air laws passed (their advice and data were hugely helpful to our effort in the District).
It’s a great organization and a great resources. Check it out!
By Angela Bradbery, on March 30, 2010
I must admit that when I ran across a news item on ABC online about the AMA calling for outdoor venues to be smokefree, I thought “Whoa! This is big news!”
Turns out it was the Australian Medical Association mentioned in an item on the Australian Broadcasting Company Web site. That AMA has called for major public venues to follow the lead of the Perth Zoo and be smokefree.
A check of the Australian Medical Association’s Web site finds a pretty strong position statement on tobacco and secondhand smoke:
Workers in bars and pubs have just as much right to a safe, smoke-free workplace as anyone else. The only way to protect workers’ health is to ban smoking in all workplaces. … There is no credible research to support the claim that total smoke bans in licensed venues will harm business and cause loss of jobs.
Continue reading AMA — the Australian one — calls for smokefree outdoor venues
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