California cracks down on retirement apartment block smoking

A new campaign against people smoking anywhere in their own apartment blocks has been ignited by action taken at a retirement complex in Silicon Valley, California, when residents lobbied city officials to stop smoke drifting into their flats.

The action is being closely watched by public health advocates who regard it as a new front in their national battle against tobacco and a campaign which seeks to place widespread limits on smoking in US apartment buildings.

Several US cities have banned smoking in most units in private apartment buildings but the Silicon Valley decision extends it further by banning smoking in any apartment that shares a floor or a ceiling with another.

One resident suffering from a lung disease said that he had noticed smoke drifting in from neighbours’ rooms soon after arriving in the block. “I could be sitting and have the air filters going but the smoke was still there. A barking dog disturbs our sleep but will not kill us. Secondhand smoke is killing us,” he told officials.

The new law – which covers the Belmont city of about 25,000 people – bars smoking except in detached homes and yards and in designated outdoor areas. The law carries the threat of a $150 fine and took effect on 9 January.