Apartment Smoking Ban, Santa Monica Tobacco Use News

Lighting up—tobacco and medical marijuana—will be banned in new apartments, and residents of current units forced to disclose to their neighbors whether they smoke under an ordinance that won initial approval from the Santa Monica City Council Tuesday night. Gleam Davis—one of five council members who supported the ban—said she wanted fewer people to smoke. Others said they want to make apartment hunting easier for people with asthma, families with children and other potential residents trying to reduce their own exposure to second-hand smoke, which can easily drift between units. "To save my health and my life, I have no choice but to move," said Aurora Zepeda, an Ocean Park resident who told the City Council she shares a wall with a chain smoker. Kevin McKeown—who has argued the disclosure component would impose a scarlet letter on smokers—and Pam O'Connor opposed the ordinance, saying it's too intrusive. A nearly identical ban was under review earlier this summer, but wasn't adopted because the city's leaders sought clarity on how it would impact users of medical marijuana. The ordinance approved Tuesday requires a second vote before it's officially on the books. Once adopted, residents who live in multi-family complexes in Santa Monica will be asked to designate their units "smoking" or "non-smoking." Landlords and homeowner associations will track the designation and deliver the list to every unit at their properties. Those who fail to report their smoking status will remain "un-designated" until they vacate their unit, meaning smoking will still be allowed. But once a unit is vacant—even those initially marked "smoking"—it will become "non-smoking." The sames rules apply to medical marijuana. However, residents of non-smoking units may be granted special exemptions with a doctor's note explaining a "physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities," such as cancer or AIDS. The July ordinance was more restrictive in that it would have made the default status "non-smoking." Shriver advocated for that component to be included in the new ordinance. Otherwise, he contended "no one," even smokers, would leave their designations as "non-smoking" so friends and visitors could smoke in their units. "It allows a more accurate count of people who are in fact smokers… so people will know where smokers are when they move into the building," he said. As of November of last year, so-called smoke-free housing policies have been adopted in 55 communities statewide, according to the American Lung Association in California. The city of Santa Monica has incrementally placed prohibitions on smoking. In December, it voted to snuff out smoking in new hotels. The year prior, it banned smoking in common areas and patios of multi-unit residences. Four years earlier, it placed a ban on the Third Street Promenade and outdoor dining areas. At that time, lighting up on the beach was already prohibited. "Everybody knows the cost of smoking in human terms," said Mayor Richard Bloom. The ordinance expanding Santa Monica's smoking ban to apartments states, "exposure to [environmental tobacco smoke] is the third leading cause of preventable death in this country, killing over 52,000 non-smokers each year, including 3,000 deaths from lung cancer."