The article notes that while it used to be assumed that smokers have a right to smoke in their homes, more people are realizing that nonsmokers [...]]]> The Washington Post has a good story this week detailing how more nonsmokers who live in apartments and condos are speaking up about secondhand smoke intruding into their living spaces.

The article notes that while it used to be assumed that smokers have a right to smoke in their homes, more people are realizing that nonsmokers also have a right to breathe clean air in their homes.

Secondhand smoke is more than just a nuisance — it’s a health hazard. For children and people with asthma or compromised immune systems, secondhand smoke is particularly harmful.

The story quotes one resident whose young daughter has asthma:

I leave doors and windows open, even as I sleep … I’ve moved to sleep in my daughter’s room now because the other side of the apartment is full of smoke.

That’s just wrong. Sorry folks, but the right to breathe clean air in one’s home trumps the “right” to smoke in one’s home every time.

If you live in a condo, apartment building or co-op, there are certain rules you have to abide by to ensure the comfort and basic health of everyone else. You can’t have band practice at 3 a.m. You can’t light a bonfire in your living room. Some condos have rules about noxious cooking odors.

Secondhand smoke is a lot worse than that. Let’s hope more nonsmokers speak up for their rights. Ask the smoker to smoke outside (this actually worked for me once). Petition your board or management association to make the building smokefree. File a nuisance complaint within your condo or apartment structure.

See more tips.

In 2005, 32 housing authorities had smokefree policies in effect. By the end of 2011, 285 will.

Cities that have or plan to make public housing smokefree: Boston (in September), Detroit, San Antonio and Portland, Ore.

The reason?

The bans are largely [...]]]>
The New York Times had an excellent story today about how housing authorities are increasingly going smokefree.

In 2005, 32 housing authorities had smokefree policies in effect. By the end of 2011, 285 will.

Cities that have or plan to make public housing smokefree: Boston (in September), Detroit, San Antonio and Portland, Ore.

The reason?

The bans are largely a response to the risks posed to nonsmokers by secondhand smoke. In addition, property managers say smokeless apartments are cheaper to clean, especially if there is carpeting, and reduce the risk of fire.

The story notes the increasing awareness of the health harms of secondhand smoke migrating from one apartment to another. Although the story has a quote from a smoker concerned about her supposed rights (there is no right to smoke, btw), it recognizes that there are other people in the picture (tenants) who have rights too (the right to breathe clean air, for instance).

New York City has not yet enacted a smokefree policy in its public housing.

Washington, D.C.? Of course not. This is the city that just permanently weakened its smokefree law via a budget amendment.

So muttered the woman next to me at a community meeting convened last night in the Greenbelt Community Center last night to discuss the problem of intrusion of secondhand smoke from one apartment to another. The woman was not very sympathetic to the plight of nonsmokers. What an appalling comment. I wonder how she [...]]]> “That’s life.”

So muttered the woman next to me at a community meeting convened last night in the Greenbelt Community Center last night to discuss the problem of intrusion of secondhand smoke from one apartment to another. The woman was not very sympathetic to the plight of nonsmokers. What an appalling comment. I wonder how she would feel if she was the one breathing secondhand smoke all the time.

The meeting was called by David Schuman, who is suing his Greenbelt Homes neighbor over secondhand smoke that regularly seeps into Schuman’s apartment. The idea was to discuss the issue with his neighbors and provide information.

Also presenting were James Repace, a reknowned health physicist and expert on secondhand smoke; John O’Hara, founder of Maryland GASP; a couple from Montgomery County who are suing a condo neighbor over secondhand smoke; and a woman from Montgomery County who also is suing over a neighbor’s secondhand smoke.

The room was packed and the discussion lively. A few good points were made:

First, that secondhand smoke is a poison. There is no safe level of exposure to it. Second, that the situation of one resident’s smoke intruding into another resident’s home is no different from other things deemed nuisances by most condo boards and apartment managers. For instance, many condo rules have clauses prohibiting noxious cooking smells or loud noises.

One woman, a neighbor of Schuman’s who has had to use her asthma inhaler and sleep in another room because of cigarette smoke coming into her home, noted that if a resident were burning tires and sending toxic fumes into other dwellings, the coop and city would immediately order him to stop.

Ben Kramer, a Maryland state delegate, was in attendance. He has taken an interest in the issue. Let’s hope he can do something when the Legislature convenes next year.

In the meantime, to the woman who muttered “that’s life,” may your neighbor start burning tires in his backyard tomorrow.

Now she has put those in Smoke-Free Housing Magazine, an online publication that has [...]]]> For the past year, Jacque Petterson has been collecting stories and links to news articles about smokefree housing – public housing complexes that have gone smokefree, lawsuits filed over secondhand smoke issues in multi-unit dwellings, even information about fires caused by cigarettes.

Now she has put those in Smoke-Free Housing Magazine, an online publication that has just debuted. Petterson, who also runs a website called Smoke-Free Housing Consultants, writes:

It has been a longtime dream of mine to create a magazine that addresses smoking concerns, especially in multi-family housing. I hope that by combining online articles with articles written by those working on this problem around the world in an easy-to-read and graphic-inclusive format we can gain more attention to the problems and solutions, encouraging more smoke-free housing.

Sample articles include “Smoking Ban Proposed for Parthenon Towers,” Some Utah Public Housing Units Are Snuffing Out Smoking” and “New Push for Smokefree Apartments in Washington” (Washington state, alas).

Check it out and enjoy.

The Wall Street Journal reports that buildings are increasingly going smokefree.

At least half a dozen Manhattan co-ops are expected to ask shareholders during annual meetings this spring to vote on an all-out [...]]]> New York, which was one of the early leaders in the smokefree workplace movement, may be a trendsetter when it comes to smokefree housing.

The Wall Street Journal reports that buildings are increasingly going smokefree.

At least half a dozen Manhattan co-ops are expected to ask shareholders during annual meetings this spring to vote on an all-out smoking ban that would prohibit residents from lighting up in their own homes, real estate attorneys say. Another dozen co-op or condo buildings are considering such a vote.

The story notes that some still balk at such a move because they worry about being sued. However, others rightly worried about liability if they don’t go smokefree.

Smokefree DC frequently hears from people who are subjected to secondhand smoke coming from another unit in an apartment or condo building. To assert their right to breathe clean air, those residents must try to persuade a management company or covenants committee to get the smoker[s] to stop. Sometimes the cases land in court, with building managers being sued for failing to enforce nuisance rules. It’s costly in time and money for those involved.

The solution? Make the buildings smokefree. Very simple.

The company had sued the tenant for $12,000 in unpaid rent. Here’s [...]]]> Here’s a case that apartment management companies everywhere should pay attention to: A judge in Nassau County, N.Y., ruled that a nonsmoking tenant should be permitted to break her lease and pay reduced rent because her complaints about a smoking neighbor were not addressed.

The company had sued the tenant for $12,000 in unpaid rent. Here’s what the judge said, according to a story on Crain’s new york business.com:

When a tenant’s smoking results in an intrusion of secondhand smoke into another tenant’s apartment, and that tenant complains repeatedly, the landlord runs a financial risk if it fails to take appropriate action. … The landlord’s failure to take appropriate action, over a period of several months, to rectify a secondhand-smoke nuisance, justifies rent abatement, and excuses the tenant from any obligation to pay rent after her constructive eviction.

Researchers analyzed the blood of children who live in smokefree homes and found that kids living in apartments have a 45 percent increase in cotanine levels in their blood than kids who live [...]]]> Children who live in apartments are exposed to secondhand smoke even if no one smokes in their unit, a new study has found.

Researchers analyzed the blood of children who live in smokefree homes and found that kids living in apartments have a 45 percent increase in cotanine levels in their blood than kids who live in detached home. Cotanine is a common marker of tobacco exposure. The study was done by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Julius B. Richmond Center, the University of Rochester Medical Center, and MassGeneral Hospital for Children.

Said Karen Wilson, MD, MPH, FAAP, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Golisano Children’s Hospital and lead author of the paper,

This study shows that the threat of secondhand smoke can occur even when the child’s immediate home environment is smoke-free.

This alone should prompt apartment managers and condo boards to make their buildings smokefree. Secondhand smoke has more than 4,000 chemicals, 69 of which are known or suspected carcinogens. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.  Just as no one has a right to keep their neighbors up with band practice at 3 a.m., they don’t have a right to ruin their neighbors’ health.

This is huge; the county is one of just a handful of jurisdictions, all of them in California, [...]]]> Three cheers to Santa Clara County, Calif., which just passed a law making apartments and condos smokefree. The law also applies to outdoor eating areas of restaurants and common areas of multiunit dwellings, the San Jose Mercury-News reports.

This is huge; the county is one of just a handful of jurisdictions, all of them in California, to do so. According to a representative of the American Lung Association in California, others include Belmont, Richmond, Sebastopol, Pinole, Pleasant Hill, and Contra Costa County.

Union City, also in California, has given preliminary approval to a similar proposal. A final vote is scheduled for Nov. 23.

Why is this a big deal? Too many nonsmokers are being sickened by secondhand smoke coming from neighboring units. They shouldn’t have to deal with that.

At Smokefree DC, we get a steady stream of calls and emails from people who live in apartments or condos and who are subjected to secondhand smoke from a neighbor. One person we are trying to help now believes she is allergic to the smoke and wakes up in the middle of the night coughing. We would say – and obviously local governments are increasingly agreeing – that the nonsmokers’ right to breathe clean air trumps the smokers’ right to smoke.

Let’s hope more governments get on board.

Secondhand smoke is more than just a bad odor – it is a health hazard. It [...]]]> Recently, The Washington Post ran an article containing guidelines about sharing walls with neighbors. It noted that “odors, especially from
smoking, are another fairly common complaint.” I sent a letter to the editor in, but it didn’t make it in. Here’s what it said:

Secondhand smoke is more than just a bad odor – it is a health hazard.
It contains 4,000 chemicals, 69 of which are known or suspected
carcinogens. The Surgeon General has said there is no safe level of
exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke causes lung cancer and heart disease in non-smokers and aggravates respiratory problems. No
one should have to breathe someone else’s smoke in their own home.

Condo boards and apartment management companies seem slow to adjust to this reality. They make elaborate rules about noise and cooking smells, but rarely tell smokers they must step outside if their smoke is infiltrating nearby units. But boards and management companies can legally do this, and they should.

We encourage tenants and condo owners to educate their management
companies or condo boards about the health hazards of secondhand smoke
and to adopt smokefree policies.

The new law makes areas within 25 feet of doors and windows of multi-unit buildings smokefree, the Santa Monica Daily Press reports. The city has already made outdoor dining areas and [...]]]> Santa Monica’s City Council is forging ahead in protecting residents from secondhand smoke. The Council has passed a measure making apartment balconies and patios smokefree.

The new law makes areas within 25 feet of doors and windows of multi-unit buildings smokefree, the Santa Monica Daily Press reports. The city has already made outdoor dining areas and beaches smokefree.

The idea is to ensure that smoke coming from balconies and patios doesn’t drift into the homes of nonsmokers — a very real problem.

The concept of making areas of apartments and condos smokefree is controversial but really shouldn’t be. After all, condos and apartment buildings have all kinds of rules about noise (don’t have band practice at 2 a.m.), cooking odors (don’t stink the place up) and nuisances (don’t do anything that drives your neighbors batty). Smoking creates secondhand smoke, a health hazard, and apartment managers and condo boards have just as much right to regulate it as anything else.

In fact, it is legal to declare entire buildings smokefree — that is, to say no one can smoke on the premises, including in their apartments.

Just as it is now standard for restaurants and bars to be smokefree, one day, multi-unit dwellings will be smokefree too. It’s not that radical a concept.