Opinion: Smoke-Free Apartment Living Is Best for Everyone in San Diego County

The city of Carlsbad has shown leadership in protecting residents' health by moving forward with a policy making all multi-unit housing 100% smoke-free.

Opinion: Smoke-Free Apartment Living Is Best for Everyone in San Diego County
Cigarettes
Cigarettes
Photo by Nabil Maaizi via Pixabay

“For the last 12 years, I have been exposed to second- and third-hand smoke in my apartment,” said Gloria Salas, a longtime South Bay resident, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother in recounting the frustrating, sickening experience of being impacted by her neighbors’ secondhand smoke.

“I grew up with heavy smokers and I was exposed to second and third-hand smoke since I was a child,” she said. “Moving into a new apartment complex was great, but second-hand smoke was once again affecting me.” 

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Second-hand smoke is the smoke or vapor exhaled by the tobacco user. Second-hand smoke kills 50,000 people every year in the United States. It contains over 7,000 chemicals, including 70 known to be cancer-causing.

Gloria raised her concerns to her property’s manager and social worker. The manager, she said, ignored her. The social worker pointed out that there was no policy prohibiting smoking in her apartment community, leaving Gloria feeling vulnerable and powerless. Like so many San Diego County residents who suffer from unwanted second-hand smoke exposure, she was asked, “If it really bothers you, why don’t you just move?” Moving was not an option for Gloria, and she felt it was a strange question to ask her “because most people do not smoke.”   

Of the 35 million people living in California, less than 10% smoke or vape. Over 90% of the population work to live tobacco-free lives, including Gloria, yet when they live adjacent to a smoker, staying tobacco-free can feel nearly impossible. 

Up to 65% of the air in one apartment travels to neighboring units. When someone smokes in their apartment, it drifts through doors, windows, ventilation ducts, and more access points into the adjoining homes. There is no safe level of second-hand smoke — all exposure is harmful. Gloria felt this harm in the form of “constant headaches” and a worsening of her heart condition. She underwent surgery for a pacemaker as a result.

The city of Carlsbad has shown leadership in protecting their residents, moving forward with a policy making all multi-unit housing 100% smoke-free. Smoke-free housing policies are a best practice in addressing the harm caused by second-hand smoke exposure. One hundred jurisdictions in California have adopted a version of this policy to date, Carlsbad being the first in San Diego County to act.

Public opinion polls from the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, and Imperial Beach show that residents want this policy. Over 500 multi-unit housing residents participated in a 2023 survey. Most participants had been bothered by second-hand smoke in their home, despite most living in “smoke-free” apartment communities. Gloria’s apartment added a smoke-free rule, but despite this new rule she was still forced to cope with her neighbors’ smoke.

The overwhelming majority of respondents — 87% — indicated they would support a smoke-free multi-unit housing policy in their city, and most indicated that property managers would be the best enforcement option.

Property managers agree: 95% of manager respondents indicated they would support a smoke-free multi-unit housing policy. In conversations with property managers, it has been shared that such a policy would “even the playing field because it would be the law”.  

This policy also makes financial sense in several ways. Smoke-free properties have reduced turnover costs. On average, smokers’ units are 2-7 times more expensive to turn over than nonsmokers’. Being smoke-free reduces the risk of fire and its accompanying liability and insurance expense. It is also important to note that smoke-free policies are not discriminatory. There is no constitutional right to smoke.  

Carlsbad is setting a great example for the rest of San Diego County in how to protect the health of multi-unit housing residents. Property managers, medical providers, public health advocates, and residents like Gloria agree that a policy making all multi-unit housing smoke-free is in the best interest of our communities’ safety, health and welfare. Carlsbad was first, who will be next to protect their residents?

Cynthia Knapp is a senior program manager at Say San Diego, a social service agency focused youth, the whole family, and the whole community.