California Cities Ban Smoking

California Cities Ban Smoking — at Home

In what may be taking the “nanny state” to the extreme, 18 cities and counties in California have banned residents from smoking — in their own apartments and condominiums.

The communities have banned smoking in all existing and new multi-unit housing, according to the American Lung Association’s Center for Tobacco Policy and Organizing, which calls the effort “the next frontier in California’s ongoing efforts to protect its citizens from secondhand smoke.”

A report from the organization states: “Although California has made great progress in getting secondhand smoke out of workplaces, for the many Californians who live in multi-unit housing breathing secondhand smoke which drifts from neighboring units, balconies and outdoor areas has become a real health problem.”

In all, 33 California cities or counties are cited in the report as having some kind of smoking ban on multi-unit housing. Some require that smoking is banned in a certain percentage of units, or that a certain number be designated as smoke-free.

In the city of Albany, smokers can be fined up to $500 for a third smoking offense.

For current residents who smoke in Belmont, there is a 14-month grace period “during which time they are still allowed to smoke in their unit.”

Many of the cities and counties’ bans include declaring secondhand smoke a “public nuisance.”