Time to ban smoking in multi-unit rentals

Posted 1/12/17

To the Editor: The resolution submitted by the Warwick City Council on January 4, 2017 to the Rhode Island General Assembly requesting that multi-unit rental housing be classified as non-smoking came about after a Warwick woman with a four-year old-child

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Time to ban smoking in multi-unit rentals

Posted

To the Editor:

The resolution submitted by the Warwick City Council on January 4, 2017 to the Rhode Island General Assembly requesting that multi-unit rental housing be classified as non-smoking came about after a Warwick woman with a four-year old-child moved into a local apartment. Nothing was done after she smelled smoke seeping into her apartment from a nearby unit and complained to the landlord.

Among the routine problems of living in multi-unit housing can be a leaky faucet, excessive noise or barking dogs, but what if a fellow tenant is a smoker who likes to smoke in the privacy of his or her own room?

For families who cannot afford to move, there is little choice but to breathe in the secondhand smoke. Even though cigarettes have been proven a health hazard and a major cause of cancer, it is an addictive habit and people continue to smoke.

"This is about protecting the health of people who rent apartments," said Ward 2 Councilman Jeremy Rix, who co-sponsored the resolution. "It's not meant to punish anyone."

In other common gathering areas like an office or market, certain areas have been designated for smokers. Those areas are usually far removed from those who have to work or shop and don't want contact with the dangerous secondhand smoke.

In a single-family dwelling, a smoker might be relegated to the back yard far away from open windows, doors and the ventilation system, which is not always possible in the situation of multi-unit housing. The smoker who lives in close quarters among other tenants is likely to come in contact with a pregnant woman or small children who are most at risk for cancer and potential birth defects.

How many times on the news do we see tragic stories told about an entire building burned down due to a careless smoker who fell asleep with a lit cigarette in his or her hand?

What one does to their own body is on the conscience of that individual but when others are put at risk and affects other people in a negative way, it is time to call upon the state senators and state representatives from Warwick to consider banning smoking in multi-unit houses.

Russell E. Gundlach Jr.

Warwick

Comments

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  • davebarry109

    To tell people they can't smoke in their own home is criminal. There is no smoke going from apartment to apartment. If this passes, try and enforce it. Will you get a warrant to enter an apartment where you suspect someone smoking? Not.

    Friday, January 13, 2017 Report this

  • RISchadenfreude

    Russell,

    Anti-smoking zealots pushing for the government to "do something" because of their own impotence...

    I'm a lifelong non-smoker, but this kind of requested government overreach is ridiculous. Smokers already pay remediation/cleaning fees for smoking in multi-unit/high-density housing, not to mention what they pay in health and quality of life costs.

    How many times do we see that an entire building burned down because someone used an unauthorized space heater or left the stove/oven unattended? Do you plan to attempt to legislate that away, also? You can't legislate away stupidity- the RI General Assembly proves that.

    Attempting to ban smoking out of existence because someone thinks it's offensive and wants to impose their will on others will not work...ever hear of the Volstead act?

    Monday, January 16, 2017 Report this

  • perky4175

    the should also ban cell phones in public places

    Thursday, January 26, 2017 Report this