Santa Monica Only Latest to Ban Smoking in Apartments

Santa Monica, CA, is only the latest jurisdiction to prohibit renters from smoking in their own apartments - part of a movement which started more than 20 years ago and is increasingly proving that there's no right to smoke
 
July 13, 2012 - PRLog -- Santa Monica, CA, is only the latest jurisdiction to prohibit renters from smoking in their own apartments, joining Alameda, Baldwin Park, Burbank, Calabasas, Compton, Elk Ridge, Huntington Park, Pasadena, Santa Clara, and South Pasadena - all of which similarly prohibit smoking within private rental apartments - notes public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who helped start the movement by getting smoking banned in private dwellings more than 20 years ago, and who has helped many nonsmokers ban smoking in other people's apartments.

Several other communities, some outside California, are also now moving towards apartment smoking bans.

Although once controversial, and strongly opposed by smokers who felt they had some kind of right to smoke in their own homes, such bans are increasingly winning broad acceptance, says Banzhaf.  For example, Huntington Park's decision to ban any smoking inside private apartment units was supported not only by major health organizations, but also by a realty property management company, and by the Apartment Association of Southern California.  The latter said that they supported the ban because “landlords will benefit from the ban as they will not have to spend as much getting a unit ready for a new tenant if they don't have to get the smoke odor out of draperies, stuffed furniture and carpets,” and added that “it’s impossible to handle drifting smoke.”

The association also reported that "Huntington Park will join a growing number of cities to establish no smoking laws in Southern California including Compton, Baldwin Park, Glendale, Pasadena and Calabasas. These cities do not require the landlords to be the Smoking Police; rather, the tenants in all cases hold each other accountable with citations/tickets written by the police or code enforcement directly to the transgressor. It is estimated that owners spend more than $4800 in cleaning costs when turning over an apartment from smoking tenants to a new tenancy."

Actually, Banzhaf was successful more than 20 years ago in helping to persuade judges to issue orders banning all smoking in dwellings in order to protect the health of children involved in custody disputes.  He also helped develop new legal theories under which nonsmokers are increasingly successful in banning smoking in neighboring apartments, and in persuading more than a dozen jurisdictions to ban smoking in homes when children are present.

Smoking, says Banzhaf, is no longer seen as a right, but rather as a privilege which must yield to protecting the health of nonsmokers.  Indeed, every court which has addressed the issue has concluded that there is no legal rights to smoke, even in one's home, much less outdoors (as on beaches) where other people are present, and that nonsmokers (including the children of smokers) do have a legal right not to be forced to inhale a substance which is not only toxic but also causes cancer even in very minute amounts.

That's why Prof. Banzhaf has been successful in supporting:

* legislation to ban smoking outdoors (including on sidewalks and private parking lots) initially in Calabasas (CA) and now in more than a dozen communities;

http://www.center4tobaccopolicy.org/CTPO/_files/_file/Table of Comprehensive Outdoor Secondhand Smoke Ordinances February 2012.pdf

* bans on smoking in apartments, condos, and even private residences where foster children live (which grew out of his legal work);

* law suits (many successful) against smoking in apartments when it drifts or recirculates into adjoining apartments, condos, etc. (some using his legal theories);

* court orders in the majority of states which prohibit smoking in apartments, condos, and homes to protect children involved in custody proceedings (his original initiative); http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/legal...

* legal actions directed against thirdhand tobacco smoke (a/k/a/ tobacco smoke residue) which is especially dangerous to children ; AND

* laws to ban smoking in cars when children are present. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEEDE17...

In short, if a man's home was ever his castle where he could smoke whenever he wished, that principle no longer applies in the 21st century, where smoke can and does drift, and re-circulate through common venting systems, into other people's castles where, according to the Surgeon General and other federal agencies, even a minute amount can present serious health hazards, concludes Banzhaf.

JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.
Professor of Public Interest Law
George Washington University Law School,
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor,
Fellow, World Technology Network,
Founder, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2000 H Street, NW, Suite S402
Washington, DC 20052, USA
(202) 994-7229 // (703) 527-8418
http://banzhaf.net/  http://gwvolleyball.com
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