TARAN 1 Darya Taran Professor Kelly English 120, 12.

40-2 18 December 2012 Secondhand smoking and why in-unit non-smoking policy should be implemented. For many tenants the situation where one finds a nice apartment, signs the lease papers only to find himself doomed in cigarette smoke that seeps from a next door neighbor's happens very often. And it feels really bad to realize that now he and his family are going to be affected by secondhand smoking (SHS) that poses a number of negative health effects on a daily basis. If there would not be such a thing as negative effects from passive smoking, smoking in public places outside of our homes would still be allowed. However in our everyday life we are no longer exposed to secondhand smoke nor at the offices, not at the restaurants or bars etc. So why is it that a tenant has to bear with a danger of SHS exposure in his home where his family and children reside? At the end the only sensible option he will be left with is to look for a different place as soon as his lease expires, or better yet break the lease and move out. Now a tenant moving out is not good news for a landlord who will have to lose couple of months of profit while looking for a new tenant. On top of that there is work associated with above situation Usually after a tenant moves out some unit updating needs to be done, carpet cleaning, and of course advertising of the apartment including numerous appointments with potential tenants associated with extra time that the landlord has to invest in order to rent the place again. Of course for a landlord to have tenants that stay for years instead of months or only one year

TARAN 2 would be a very good option. But is there something to do in this particular situation? Landlords should prohibit in-unit smoking due to its negative effects on our health, especially the health of children. Nowadays people become more conscious about their health, being more aware of what influences it and what we should stay away from in order to preserve it. It would be reasonable to say that the whole image of todays tenant changes. Many tenants that dont have the luxury of owning their own houses and choose a more economic living in apartment complexes are more and more irritated by secondhand smoke that seeps from their next-door neighbors. As an example of such concern over secondhand smoke, the community of Fairfax held a number of meetings discussing the issue of secondhand and even third-hand smoke exposure of Fairfax residents, especially those of them that reside in multiunit housing. As a result Fairfax Town Council finally approved an ordinance that requires that all complexes with four units or more would be required to have 75 percent of their units designated as smoke-free and should segregate those units as much as possible (Smoke-free Marin). Which proves that todays tenant is no longer feeling comfortable with secondhand smoke and trying to find the solution in order to improve the air quality in their homes. According to the property manager from Sherwood Oaks Apartments who has been working on advertising the complex as smoke-free, the ordinance has helped the quality of life in the complex (Smoke-free Marin). Interestingly the property managers have not complained about any resistance from the side of smoking tenants, meaning that prohibiting in-unit smoking is a realistic solution to the problem of secondhand smoke exposure in

TARAN 3 ones own home. Fairfax is not the only city in Marin County that banned in-unit smoking. Earlier similar ordinance was passed in cities of Novato and Larkspur. In 2008 the city of Novato put the secondhand-smoke law on its book that allows 50 percent of the units in a complex to be designed to allow smocking(Smoke-free Marin). Similar but tougher approach was taken in Larkspur, where only 20 percent of the units was allowed to be set aside by the landlord as smocking areas (Smoke-free Marin). It is interesting to know that residents of Larkspur are that conscious about secondhand smoke when only 12 percent of residents of the city of Larkspur are smokers. The question arises as to is it really so difficult to prohibit in-unit smoking that the City council has to be involved? Do the smokers actually have the legal right to smoke in the territory of their rentals? The answer is no. According to Samantha K. Graff, a staff attorney at Public Health Law& Policy in Oakland, California, who wrote a book There is No Constitutional Right to Smoke, so-called right to smoke is actually a smokescreen. The author clearly states that Constitution of US does not mention the right to smoke nor does it provide any sort of protection to smokers. (Samantha K. Graff). Which means that the landlord has the full power to implement in-unit smoke-free policies at any time exactly the same way he can implement a pet-free policy, for example. How does SHS actually seeps from one unit to another? Does it happen only if ones neighbor smokes on the balcony or with his window open? According to American Lung Association and its article Smokefree Policies in Multi-Unit

TARAN 4 Housing: Steps for Success the smoke actually circulates through shared ventilation, cracks in walls, electrical outlets, floorboards, so even if a smoking tenant closes his window, SHS still has the capacity to easily migrate to another unit via variety of ways. For example, according to Multiunit housing residents experiences and attitudes toward smoke-free policies, published in Oxford Journals by Brian A. King and K. Michael Cummings on April 15, 2010 and covering the New York State Adult Tobacco Survey between years 2007 and 2009, nearly half of New York MUH residents with a smoke-free home policy have experienced a SHS incursion in their home. Obviously, prohibiting smoking on balconies would not help to improve the situation in order to improve the air quality. But what is the concern? Shouldnt a tenant think that a small amount of secondhand smoke doesnt matter? Once again the answer is no, because no amount of secondhand smoke is safe and even small doses have a negative effect on our health, posing the most harm to little children that inhale many of the same cancer-causing substances and poisons as smokers.(Harm to Kids from Secondhand Smoke). For a landlords a concerned tenant is not a good sign, since it means that the tenant will be relocating. But why lose tenants when something can be done in order to prevent the situation from happening? What are the benefits of having a smoke-free apartment complex for a landlord? There might be more labor associated with updating the smokers unit after his relocation. Third-hand smoke, which is the tobacco residue, has a tendency to stay on walls, carpeting and furniture long after the smoker left the area (Smoke-free Marin). Third-hand smoke is impossible to remove with simple ventilation, thus a

TARAN 5 thorough cleaning or even carpet replacement will have to be done in order to give an apartment that fresh and clean look that new tenants find so appealing. Also lets not forget about the dangers of having a smoking tenant! What if he or she will fall asleep with a lighted cigarette resulting in a fire? That would surely be such a disaster! And even if some problems can be solved with insurance policies and security deposits, it would be preferable to avoid stressful issues altogether. What is the importance of implementing in-unit smoke-free policies for tenants? Many tenants reside with their families and children and understand that maintaining a healthy environment is extremely important in order to be in good health and raise healthy and happy children. Why? First of all, cigarette smoking is a number one cause of preventable disease in the United States. According to American Lung Association, young populations are especially vulnerable to the adverse effects of smoking(Smokefree Policies in Multi-Unit Housing: Steps for Success). Another study suggests children in apartments have higher mean cotinine levels than children in detached houses (Wilson, M. Karen, Johnathan D. Klein et al). Meaning that just living in multiunit housing along exposes our next generation to SHS on a daily basis. Soon to be a parent residing in apartment complex will also feel concerned the moment SHS reaches his/her home. Interesting studies were performed in order to determine the effects of secondhand smoke during pregnancy. For example scientists from Behaviour Evaluation and Measurement Research Center of the Rovira I Virgili University explain how the secondhand smoke during pregnancy can harm the baby (Mary Elizabeth Dallas). Authors of the article Prenatal and Passive Smoke published in Oxford Journals, H Burke and J

TARAN 6 Leonardi-Bee, come to a similar conclusion stating household smoke exposure and incidence of asthma and wheeze in children and teenagers. It looks like secondhand smoke has such profound impact on our children at all stages of their lives that a parent has no choice but to take the issue with secondhand smoke seriously. Meaning that if reasoning with a smoking neighbor will not help, he will have to move out. For the landlord on the hand to keep more tenants with families makes more sense financially, because they usually reside in larger units paying higher rent. Having in-unit smoking banned is indeed an important action that will have a positive effect not only on tenants health but also might economically improve the situation with apartment complexes by attracting existing tenants to keep their rentals. Less work needs to be done by the landlord in terms of advertising, cleaning and updating when tenants rent for longer period of time staying in a healthy and safe environment in days when smoking is no longer a hip thing to do.

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Works cited page: Harm to Kids from Secondhand Smoke. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. 4 Oct. 2012. Web. 2 Nov. 2012<http://tobaccofreekids.org/facts_issues/ fact_sheets/toll/products/secondhand_smoke/>. H Burke, J Leonardi-Bee, A Hashim. Prenatal and Passive Smoke Exposure and Incidence of Asthma and Wheeze: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Pediatrics 130.1 (2012 ):59. American Academy of Pediatrics. Web. 17 Nov. 2012. <http://pediatricsdigest.mobi/content/130/Supplement_1/S9.1. full?sid=415ded99-9100-4332-8ebc-c1e9096671e9> King, Brian. K., Michael Cummings, et al. Multiunit housing residents experiences and attitudes toward smoke-free policies Oxford Journals 12.6(2010): 598605. PMC U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. Web. 11 Nov. 2012 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3436441/ Mary Elizabeth Dallas. secondhand Smoke in Pregnancy Seems to Harm Baby too. MedlinePlus. A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine NIH National Institutes of Health. 19 Sept. 2012. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. < http://www.nlm.nih.gov/Medlineplus/news/fullstory_129421.html>. Samantha K. Graff, Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, There is No Constitutional Right to Smoke: 2008 (2nd edition, 2008). Smokefree Policies in Multi-Unit Housing: Steps for Success. American Lung Association. N.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. <http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/

TARAN 8 about-smoking/smokefree-housing.html>. Smoke-free Marin. Fairfax passes Strickter Smoking Regulations. Smokefreemarin. N.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. http://www.smoke freemarin.com/NewsandUpdates.html