Legalizing marijuana was a huge mistake.
13
I find pot smoke absolutely disgusting.
14
It's amazing how many people do not understand that they have to "stay in their lane." It's not okay for your noise, smoke, fights, and overall craziness to intrude on others. And, for those of you who think we're all just waiting for your "show time," we're not. Stay in your lane and keep your crazy there too. Home Sweet Home.
11
It makes ZERO sense for the landlord to say he does not smell it on his side if HE is the one smoking it.
5
It is possible to be allergic to MJ.
If the LW's son is in respiratory distress, it is quite possible that it is not "the smell" that is bothering him, but rather the MJ particulates that are bothering him and he is having a chronic allergic reaction. The smell is the least of their problems! The first thing to do is get a HEPA filter for their AC. But after that, probably moving to a place with less MJ in the air is a good idea. If they cannot break their lease, then planning to leave at the end of it is a GREAT idea. When you look for a new apartment or duplex, ASK. It's quite okay to say that you are not "420 friendly," due to your son's health issues.
In this day and age, however, it is nearly impossible to avoid MJ, because SO many people use, both legally and illegally. MJ stays on clothing, and even oozes out of the skin, breathes out of the lungs for up to a month after use. Most people who use, register surprise that anyone COULD be allergic to their "innocent pastime," or that they could be causing serious health issues to anyone they come in contact with.
SMH.
23
@Dejah "MJ stays on clothing, and even oozes out of the skin, breathes out of the lungs for up to a month after use"!?!
Wow! Who knew weed smoke was so powerful -- lasts for a month in the lungs! Super smoke!
9
@Dejah You may need to do a bit more research. If that much smoke is escaping from one unit to the next, they are using the pot as incense! Also, if there was that much smoke, the smoke detectors would most likely go off.
3
The marijuana smell could be coming from old smoke residue in the air conditioner itself, and not from current smoke from a neighbor. Your situation might be easier to solve than you think.
3
Maybe you need to stop being defensive and support health first.
1
I've never understood why second hand pot smoke isn't considered as hazardous as that from tobacco
I'm eagerly awaiting legislation that restricts my exposure to your exhaled cloud of yuk.
19
@No Namby Pamby
The letter writer does not mention smoke, only the smell of marijuana.
3
That is because she can't see the smoke.
I have dealt with the same situation many times.
Landlord will say they can't do anything because they can't prove anything or see anything. Only the tenants with red eyes, damaged health, smelly clothes and second hand high can tell you when it occurs, but it is an endless battle that can't be seen, just horribly smelled.
3
Just like any other nuisance you have little to no control over. MOVE!
Neighbor too noisy, smelly, parks bad, too many visitors, rubs you the wrong way, can't stand you maybe...MOVE!
Either that or start bargaining.
But life is too short to live in fear, disgust or annoyance.
MOVE~!
5
I recently signed a new lease - 38 pages of every dodge under the sun to absolve my landlord of any liability for anything. One of the riders, if that's what they're called, was about marijuana. I didn't even bother to read it. I don't smoke pot but my neighbors sure do. One family with two little kids lights up as soon as they wake up, around 6:30 am. I know this because the stink wafts across the sidewalk into my open windows. I also have it coming into my bathroom from an adjoining unit.
This is what you can expect when it's legal in your state: You will not be able to get away from it. The local TV & press will be full of stories about how great it is for the economy! Not many stories of how often you'll smell it coming out of cars on the road, though. You'll smell it on people's clothes, you'll smell it as you walk past the guy sitting at the bus stop. Your pot smoking friends and relatives will recommend it for every minor complaint you have, especially if they know you don't partake.
Don't believe the lies about how it won't be legal to use it in public - apparently that part of the law is only for minorities. You'll see and smell people doing it wherever they want, whenever they want.
18
Ever live in an area where wood burning is allowed, like fireplaces or pits on the beach? Seems delightful for the people using them but not for asthmatics and trying to filter that in your home. Also not good for climate change.
7
So many people don't seem to know that they could just TALK to their neighbors to find solutions that would work for everyone.
I have to wonder how much of the issue is people who aren't acquainted with the idea of finding compromises.
8
@ms
Your answer is so "midwest..." If only it worked that way in other parts of the country. It doesn't. Stay where you are!
6
As marijuana becomes more and more available this is going to be a real problem for residents in multi-unit housing.
The solution is the same as with cigarettes. Just as smokers can use e-cigarettes to avoid impacting on their neighbors, there are ways to consume marijuana other than smoking it.
16
Buy your neighbor a vape pen and a cartridge of CBD. Guarantee he won't go back to smoking after he starts vaping his weed. It's a great alternative and it's odorless!
5
@Vin
I find vape pens both bland and cough-inducing. I am also concerned wit residual solvents.
1
Move!
Problem solved
6
"Move!"
Easy to say.
Not so easy to do when (1) you're working, (2) have a family to care for, (3) do not have the money to do so -- whether that means security money up front or a down payment for a house or apartment.
Smugness is not a virtue.
45
Move!
2
I completely disagree with the response Ronda Kaysen gives as I see no mention of the offended party attempting to reach out to the source of their issues.
Before turning this into a federal case and attacking the landlord, leveling legal threats (which will cost you money and time you'll wish you could have back) and putting him in the middle of a situation with another tenant, I suggest locating the source of your issue and talking to the neighbor. They may not even know that what they're doing is causing a problem in another apartment. Do this politely and without righteous indignation and explain your situation and you may be surprised at what happens.
I speak from experience of being a life long New Yorker where we all live piled on top of each other and have found people to be pretty reasonable if you make the approach, keep your cool, listen to their position and then try to find a compromise. Swinging for the fences with threats and sending the landlord into to fight your battles may actually escalate the situation and move it into a space you don't want to be in.
In fact, I'm somewhat amused that this parent took the time to write this letter instead of finding the source and talking to their neighbor.
7
@Bryan The tenant HAS "located the source of the issue." Read the question again. This tenant lives in a duplex (two units, no more, in the one building). Clearly the landlord is the one smoking the pot, but he is denying it. The writer's problem is that the landlord won't admit it, and Kaysen's advice to suggest that the landlord "use air filters, or smoke outside or in a room far from the air-conditioning unit" is devised to force the landlord to realize he'd better make changes or he will face legal action and lose rental income. Your suggestion to "find a compromise" is useless if the other party will not be honest.
21
@Bryan The neighbor is the landlord.
3
MJ smokes lingers for SO much longer than tobacco smoke--for hours and hours!
Unlike tobacco smoke, even a strong air purifier with carbon and hepa filters couldn't get rid of it. I had tried it!
Using Fabreze would only mix the Fabreze scent with the MJ and turn it into something just as disgusting. I had tried it!
My pot smoking neighbor would immediately burn sage to "hide" the MJ smell which made it just as bad. The police identified the sage on one of their nuisance calls. But sage, tobacco, MJ are all treated the same as nuisances when they invade someone else's space.
I was told that even if a neighbor is using MJ for medical purposes, they must keep their smoke within their own space, otherwise, for medical reasons or not, they're breaking local smoke ordinance (in my town) just the same.
11
@margarite mitchell
I find that tobacco smoke lingers much longer than cannabis smoke.
5
Suggest to your neighbor that he/she switch to vape to protect your child.
6
@Susan Murphy
Since when is vape smoke safe?
1
Looks like air quality" needs to be defined in a lease.... especially in buildings with central air and heat. Secondary smoke as long been documented are as a cause of cancer.
In these cases, would the landlord be liable for health damage?
2
How is that not illegal? Your neighbor is giving marijuana to a minor. In California it is child abuse to provide a dangerous substance to a minor. CA Health and Safety Code HS 11361. NY probably has similar rules. Document it carefully with your pediatrician and have your child tested for marijuana.
6
It is more your place than the landlords, at least according to the political left in New York.
3
We recently dealt with this issue in my apartment building. A young man who supposedly had to have marijuana for his health was smoking up a storm and inviting his noisy buddies over for frequent parties. The guy who lived over him also had health problems... and I was just sick and tired of all the stink and noise. The manager posted several notices without much effect.
Fortunately the "pothead" did not renew his lease, and my new next-door neighbor could not be more ideal.
Many cities in California have laws that require apartment complexes above a certain number of units to provide a specific percentage of "smoke-free" apartments. This would cover both tobacco and marijuana smoke. Sadly, my hometown of Sacramento is not one of these. I would like to see such a law put into place statewide.
17
Why do so many assume it's the smell that's the problem? My read is that the problem is smoke. Whether from cigarettes, weed, or cooking, smoke of any kind can trigger reactive airways and cause wheezing, coughing, and asthma.
9
@CH
Thank you. I was wondering why comments were differentiating between the various types of smoke.
1
I live in LA and most apartment buildings, not to mention many street corners and cars, reek of pot these days. It's disgusting. Even driving behind someone smoking with their windows open feels like an olfactory assault. Makes me want to move to a state where pot is illegal. It's way worse than cigarette smoke.
20
@SL You should check with your local PD many states it is illegal to drive under the influence of weed.
There's no reason to not just have a friendly chat and tell the landlord what's bothering you. Unless he's a boor he'll do what he can to alleviate the problem. If not, escalate from their.
1
Never talk. Always email so you have a paper trail.
Tell landlord time and day it occurs.
Tell them you are not comfortable in speaking not tenants you never met.
Ask your landlord to send an email to everyone to record the issue.
If that does not work email landlord again to say that your health is at risk and see what they say
Be careful with edibles. Be very careful
2
@Gene
Why I hardly ever consume more than 100 mg at one time
5
A good air filter should pretty completely remove the smell.
3
I moved to California from Virginia in the past year and have been dealing with this issue. A warning to those who want to legalize. This entire state smells like weed.
10
@VirginianSometimesinNY Sounds good to me! Wanna trade places?
7
@VirginianSometimesinNY
I love the smell of cannabis in the morning...afternoon, and night.
3
Maybe the former tenant smoked weed and the A/C has held on to the odor. She needs to have a serviceman check out the A/C. Try to get the landlord to share the cost of the service call. HVAC units have to be serviced and cleaned. How old is it anyway?
11
Why doesn't he vape? You waste a lot of pot by smoking it in a joint or pipe. Vaping creates no odor whatsoever.
9
Vaporize.
2
You need to live elsewhere. By yourself, preferably
9
I have a similar issue with scented products--candles, warmers, diffusers, vape smoke. I am now officially asthmatic, but the effects are far ranging--respiratory, skin, allergic reactions.
Here's what I know:
The particles that make up the fumes are very small and regular air purifiers will not control it. Smoke, specifically, needs a carbon filter. Find a machine that goes down to .003 microns to get the gaseous fumes.
Because the fumes are made of small particles, they can get pushed through the walls wherever there is the smallest opening. Potlights, outlets, plumbing, venting. I lived in a condo with concrete between floors, but the concrete was cut into for mechanicals that were vertical through the building. Many multi-floor buildings use the gap under the front door, as well as elevator shafts, as part of the air exchange. So whether you get the fumes in your unit depends on--who has windows open, A/C on, how windy it is outside and what direction the wind is coming from,.....
If you get nowhere talking to your neighbors or landlord/HOA, move. You can tape over your outlets, create a negative pressure in your unit by blocking off certain airflow, buy expensive purifiers, and twist yourself in a knot, but there is no guarantee who will move in next.
12
A few years ago, before legalization of marijuana in CA, there were a several mj and cigarette smoker in the unit below me who sent smoke thru the walls/vents all hours of the day and night. It was a condo building and the smokers were tenants. They wouldn't stop despite many complaints. Police even came several times on nuisance calls in the middle of the night. That didn't stop them despite their violation of the city's smoke ordinance. (MJ is treated just like tobacco smoke.)
The local chapter of the American Lung Assoc helped a lot in terms of clarifying local laws and ordinances regarding smoke.
The condo board finally hired lawyers to clarify/modify HOA rules and enforced them through daily fines to the landlord of that unit. The landlord finally kicked them out.
NOW, mj is legal for recreational use in this state. The house next to us has a smoker who smokes mj in his yard which sends it into my house via the cross winds. Now, I don't know what to do about that--since it is not originating in my building.
21
I have a rental property in Calvert County, Maryland.
I learned a bit of landlord tenant law as a result.
I learned that under no circumstances is the tenant to withhold the rent. In a case such as this, assuming the landlord is not responsive to the tenant’s legal rights, the court receives the rent until the issue is resolved.
5
@Richard B The rent is held in escrow until the case is resolved. It does not have to be held by the Court.
10
@Richard B Tenants have the legal right to withhold rent if the landlord blatantly refuses to remedy a bad condition after the tenant notifies the landlord of that condition in writing. Here in Pennsylvania, landlords have 24 hours after receiving notice to act. Either they must do something immediately or notify the tenant of the date by which they will remedy, but not later than 30 days after notice.
I know this because I had to withhold rent years ago when my landlord failed to stop a rat and mouse infestation in my apartment. When my landlord ignored me, I contacted my city's Fair Housing Council. They informed him that from then on, I would pay my rent into an escrow account held by them rather than paying him directly. They also notified him that they were contacting the city building code department to review his certificate of occupancy. What happened is that the building code inspector eventually found the building unfit for human habitation, and she told all of us tenants that we had to vacate immediately. We were put up in hotels for a week while the Fair Housing Council forced the landlord to pay us back all of the rent payments from the date I first notified him in writing of the mouse and rat problem. He was also forced to return our security deposits so that we could move elsewhere.
All leases automatically contain a Warranty of Habitability, even if that is not stated in writing. If a tenant pays rent, they have a right to a safe dwelling.
8
@Richard B: You do realize that landlord/tenant law varies from state to state? So your experiences are not universal.
1
A number of comments have agreed that this is becoming a major problem. Some even thought it meant that cannabis should not be legalized.
I have one question for these folks. What about tobacco smoke?
28
@Jack Toner
Pot smoke smells far stronger, lingers longer and travels farther. It's disgusting. If I had to choose between the smell of pot or cigarettes, I'd choose cigarettes hands down.
14
@Jack Toner
There are now more and more buildings in which smoking is not allowed.
God save us.
14
Same thing about tobacco smoke, if that were coming through the vents. It stinks (haha) that some people's preferences impinge upon others (to include the gantlet of smoke and smokers when entering or exiting an office building or motel).
I live in DC where weed is legal. I've noticed that the smell of marijuana is stronger and lingers far longer than cigarette smoke. There are people who smoke three houses away and around the corner of an alley, and I have to close my windows so the smell doesn't come in my house.
15
If the building has a common central air conditioning system to all parts of the building it has what is called returns. It usually will not have an outside air intake. If it has this sort of system, someone is smoking in a part of the building with a return and the smoke is being recirculated throughout the building.
12
@Jim
Thanks for the explanation. A friend who moved to a coop apartment had a vent in one bathroom that sometimes emitted smoke like an exhaust vet at a bar. Impossible to identify the exact source.
2
Sigh, someone needs introducing to edibles.
47
@Chris
Edibles are great sometimes, but they take much longer to take affect, and that effect lasts much longer than when cannabis is smoked or vaped.
4
All you pro-legalization hippies: THIS is what you'll be enabling if you legalize weed. You may complain about people's right to smoke weed, but what about the rest of us who don't like smelling like skunks???
62
@Himura
This might be a compelling argument for the "hippies," but I get the sense that the corporations and investors (like former Speaker of the House Boehner) could care less about unintended consequences like these. Such businesses will be the "big tobacco" of this next era and, in some cases, are the very same businesses that are still in the tobacco industry.
40
@Himura
Do you have something against hippies?
3
As someone who had to deal with this with a 3 year old getting smoked out from below in her own bedroom, I’d say get out. ASAP. The chances it will get better are really slim. Go buy your own house if you can.
God bless and good luck.
34
Where is the AC intake? Ask him to stop smoking there. It is probably outside, which makes this article's advice ridiculous.
5
Did the landlord not say in his ad for duplex tenants the terms "420 friendly"or "medicinal marijuana friendly"?
Or did he likely hide that habit precisely since he did not want slacker pothead tenants who will just leech off his stash, while always forgetting to pay rent on time/clean up after themseves?
Landlords saying upfront that it's a 420-friendly place hints to any potential tenant of the increased likelihood of smelling pot, especially in an old duplex that may have outdated air filters.
There are 420-using landlords & housemates who proactively update their air filters & place their smoking areas far away from their non-user tenants/housemates/neighbors.
I (a non-user) in fact had no problem w/ my considerate 420-using landlords & housemates past.
My real beef was w/ a chain-smoking (cigarettes) significant other who made my work clothes stink so bad - despite all the Febreze we applied - my co-workers, clients, & boss at the time were concerned that I might have started smoking myself! After the ex & I broke up, though, I never smelled like an ashtray again.
Fact is, though, there are 420 users who are just way too self-absorbed enough to never care about their habit literally seeping into the clothes, furniture, walls, etc. of others.
Their rental income subsidizes their pot use. They don't mind having a revolving door of disgusted tenants, when demand for cheap housing outstrips supply.
Might as well save your cash & credit to move to a 420-free place soon.
10
Marijuana smoke.
Apart from the advice of the author of this article, you could take a more firm, retaliatorily-preventive stand, and inject noxious fumes into the landlord's space.
3
@Tuvw Xyz
and you could be evicted for creating a nuisance
3
Every day my upstairs neighbor cooks some kind of foreign food that smells really nasty. I am pretty sure the cockroaches come from their apartment. They also re-arrange their furniture and walk around on their floors in the middle of the night. And that music they play is annoying. And one time they even parked in my space. Can I get rid of these people?
16
Or, you could convince him or her to use a vaporizer to inhale the Cannabis instead of burning it. Win-Win...
13
You could offer to give him a recipe for edibles.
5
Hard to believe people still smoke, it's all about the vaping and edibles now.
15
Don't be surprised when your lease isn't renewed next year...problem solved!
9
Geez Louise -- A lot of folks here went nuclear very quickly!
Here's a thought: Maybe both sides are telling the truth.
The tenant honestly smells marijuana.
The landlord honestly does not.
The article does not indicate that the landlord is evil, stubborn, or criminal -- just that they said they couldn't smell something that the tenant can smell. Yikes!
Before everyone sues everyone, it might be worth one more friendly chat with the landlord: "I believe you when you say you can't smell it, but I hope you believe me when I say it's driving me nuts. If you want you can drop by the next time it happens --together I'm sure we can figure this out."
You can always drop the bomb later if the landlord refuses to help, but it sounds to me that there are a lot of simple steps that could take place before that's necessary.
We are entering a new age of marijuana legalization. That does NOT mean that you should have to put up with excessive odors, but it might mean that whoever is creating the smell is not a drug-crazed maniac -- just someone who prefers marijuana over beer, whiskey, or red wine, and is unaware that they are disturbing you.
(BTW, if you find the neighborhood kids who are smoking near the air conditioning intake vent, or if you open up your air conditioner and find a dead skunk or the weed that someone hid there a long time ago, I am going to laugh hysterically).
41
Life is full of smells and noises. What if the smell was of coffee being brewed or chicken being roasted or, the most noxious smell of them all, cigarettes? Reason to object?
8
@MIKEinNYC, No, no, yes.
4
@carol goldstein I loathe the smell of brewed coffee. Makes me gag. So...yes, no, yes.
3
What is the solution for a neighbor in a community behind our community who has a dog that barks incessantly? Literally nonstop throughout the day and sometimes into the night. People are so inconsiderate sometimes.. The police refuse to come out for noise issues.
10
@Imma
The police are not responsible for barking dog problems. Please look up the NYC noise/nuisance ordinances - they will also tell you how to deal with the problem.
On the other hand your description of "a community behind our community" suggests that you are not living in NYC. We have neighborhoods here, not communities. And frankly, if a dog in another neighborhood is barking, you're not likely to hear it.
1
Since so much pot smells like skunk, this is really a problem. Thanks for posting. I was wondering how this would be handled.
7
@maya
Deciduous azaleas also smell like skunk.
I had the same problem with a roommate and a swamp cooler. He would chain smoke cigarettes in the back yard. If he stood close to the house or the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, the entire house would smell like cigarette smoke.
Same thing in this description. If the odor is coming through the AC, the smoke has to travel outside before coming inside through the AC unit. That means the person is either smoking outside near the AC unit or there is a window open very close to the AC unit. Either situation should be relatively easy to solve. When you smell smoke, go look outside. You then politely tell the person not to smoke near your AC unit. What am I missing?
I guess if your child really is that sensitive to smoke inhalation, you might want to consider an ionizer or a filter or something. That's not really the landlord's deal though. Honestly, just standing outside in northern New Jersey is probably worse than smoking a cigarette depending on where you live. A bad inversion here and you might as well smoke a pack. You can almost literally chew the air.
16
If it is the landlord using marijuana, it seems that he could avail himself of using vape cartridges or edibles, both of which might be better for his health, not to mention the health of his tenants and his checking account.
8
With NY considering legalize or decriminalizing pot - how will that work in buildings where the odor can’t be controlled. How will landlords be responsible?
6
@EG2018 How are they currently responsible regarding tobacco smoke?
2
The entire hallway on my floor in a large high rise smelled from marijuana the minute you walked off the elevator. It effected my allergies and gave me a headache, Another tenant complained to me and we both agreed that it came from an apt near the elevator. When the hallway smell became very faint I smelled the doors and one of 4 had a very strong odor. The Building Manager sent the tenant a letter and we haven’t smelled marijuana since
21
In addition to breathing issues, what impact marijuana smoke has On developing brains is not known.
10
In NYC, the courts have removed any remedy the LL has to address smoking or marijuna use complaints from tenants. In rent stabilized apartments, tenants are entitled to a lease renewal, so problematic tenants cannot be removed. New leases must also be on the same basis as the original lease so you cannot add a no smoking clause if it was not on the original lease, which is very likely the case since RS tenancy averages about 15 years now. Forget about bringing a nuisance proceeding, you almost have to catch the person in the act and have video proof that it is a recurring issue. You also need other tenants to testify to the nuisance and most tenants do not want to get involved. The case will take 1 year, and even in the unlikely case you are successful, the judge can stay an eviction for another year. This is a serious issue especially with legalization likely on the docket. All our health is being put at risk.
20
@B The "rent-controlled tenant" next door is the property owner.
4
@B the tenants can request the landlord to declare it a smoke-free building which carries penalties, including eviction, for smoking anywhere on the premises, including individual apartments.
1
@bfrllc Unfortunatly not true. *All* current occupant must agree to this as a new lease rider, if not on the original lease. Yes, any new tenants maybe required to sign a nonsmoking rider, but the same cannot be applied to extant tenants.
Ask your neighbor to consider vaping. It's smokeless, and gets you just as high. He can still vape the flower, but the scent permeates less, and shouldn't cause any health issues for your baby as vapor isn't known to linger from room to room, or pass through ventilation.
15
It seems like the easiest solution would be to invest in an air filter system. It’s non confrontational and maybe would cost $100. Maybe also replace the filter in the A/C unit for $10. Seems like a first start.
A/c units also don’t actually bring in air from outside. So there’s something amiss in the story.
It’s also vague as to where the smell is coming from.
21
@Anon
Standard wall mounted air conditioners certainly can bring in air from outside. Heat pump split units do not.
7
@David Smith They can, but always have a way to choose outside air or not. My window unit has a lever marked "OPEN" and "Closed". A central system with an outside compressor and separate wall units in each room cannot bring in outside air. It would have useful to know what the writer was referring to, "Turn on our air conditioning" is ambiguous, but does sound like a window style unit. Anyway, figuring out the actual source as suggested above, and if it's actually the landlord neighbor getting them to vape it instead would work.
1
We moved to a small house, 900 square feet, to avoid neighbors on top of us or next door. The noise, the smells, the daily problems were just too much.
31
I can still remember the scent of pot permeating the hallways of the dorm I was in for freshman orientation. That was 45 years ago. Never did like it or get used to it. No one should have to put up with it and especially not an innocent child. Shame on the landlord.
37
@JohnFred
I cannot stand the smell of perfume and scented cosmetics. Should I have to put up with it?
4
@civiletti: When you're outside of your house, yes. When you're inside of your house, no.
3
Here in Colorado, where you can legally indulge in your home, this is a real problem. While my town has (poorly enforced) secondhand tobacco smoke laws, today’s pot smoke smell is much worse and much harder to get rid off. It seeps into the walls and carpets and landlords have horror stories of trying to get it out. Someone needs to invent an extreme version of Febreze. It’s an awful, toxic smell for those of who are sensitive to it, and much worse than anything I remember from my younger days. I commute by bus and every morning there’s someone on the bus who just reeks, and I can smell it on my hair and clothes for hours even if I’m sitting rows away. I wish this tenant luck; I don’t think the answers you’re proposing are going to be successful.
66
Febreze itself is no remedy, of course. It's loaded with chemicals and, for people with asthma, a real danger. Even for me, walking down the aisles of some stores has become a trial because of whatever they're pumping through the ducts.
Heaven forbid someone invent a supercharged version.
28
@Elaine & B
I don't HAVE asthma, just allergies, and Febreze makes me choke up. It feels as if it is coating the inside of my lungs. It may be worse than the smoke. I suspect it could be very dangerous
1
Great advice. But legal arguments don’t necessarily settle issues like smoking marijuana even in nonsmoking apartments like K Street Flats Library Gardens in Berkeley CA where I lived for five years. The police and elected officials need to enforce the laws better on the habitability issues and the laws need to be more than complaint based.
31
@Sam Cacas the police wouldn't enforce these laws because they are not a criminal offenses, you would have to take this up in civil court. A landlord may potentially lose more money trying to litigate then they would by allowing the tenant to break the lease under the constructive eviction theory.
10
@Sam Cacas Lisa is correct. And you shouldn't discourage people from seeking legal recourse advised by people who know what they're talking about.
5
How about suggesting the landlord use a vaporizer. There is no odor because there is no combustion.
50
@Mike Westfall
If there is a medical reason, the same positive effects can be dosed with edibles or CBDs.
5
@Mike Westfall
There is an odor, just no smoke. But it's a weaker odor and largely lacks the acridity of smoke.
5
Related to the AC aspect, some air conditioners (like the one shown in the grapic) do not bring in fresh air from the outside or from another apartment. I would suggest that you bring in an air conditioning contractor to do a quick check so they can inform you about how the system works, before you make any claims based on this as the source. If in fact the air intake is outside you may find that the adjacent apratment is not where the fumes are coming from.
48
I was staying in a hotel with the same issue with the AC. Turned out people were smoking near the air intake of the hotel, not inside.
52
The query is unclear as to whether the tenant smells marihuana smoke or marihuana plants. I'd think it might make a difference as to how one proceeds to communicate...
9
the column assumes the landlord is the one smoking weed which could be touchy and confrontational and sets up a legal issue if the landlord becomes accused. the writer only says they smell it and the landlord doesn't; consider that the ducts could be lined up differently and the source could be somewhere else.
are there precedents that could draw on the generally accepted "no second hand smoke" aspect of habitability? after all, second hand cigarette smoke isn't really "smoke" but the residual smell of smoking that people consider unhealthy and objectionable.
12
@Aubrey -
"the column assumes the landlord is the one smoking weed"
A reasonable assumption considering that it's a duplex; in other words, two units, one in which the LW lives and the other in which the landlord lives.
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@JoanP It seems very few people completely read an article anymore.
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But the fact it’s a duplex doesn’t automatically mean it’s not close to other buildings. The smell of weed has range, and the source could very well be off the property. This seems even more likely in that the landlord claims he doesn’t smell the weed on his side.
The wording of the question was sufficiently ambiguous that landlord-as-the-source shouldn’t be an automatic assumption.
(Yes, I read the full article. And reread the question.)
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Thanks for the helpful advice. Offensive marijuana odors and harmful secondhand smoke are the next frontier of landlord-tenant warfare. And they ought to be.
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@zigmund — And as they should be. I just moved from a middle-floor unit, where I had to put up with cigarette smoke coming through vents, the open balcony door, and even through bathroom plumbing. (I’m surprised smoke didn’t billow out whenever I opened the cabinet under the sink.) Management did what it could, but the bottom line for me is, if you want to smoke and put your health at risk, fine; but that does not give you the right to jeopardize my well-being and my comfort in my own space.
I am now in a townhome. Should I have to relocate, it will not be to a multiunit complex unless there is a non-smoking policy, or a building where smoking is prohibited.
As to the letter-writer, I would have no qualms breaking the lease by citing uninhability concerns, especially since there is a small child involved.
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I had a pot-head downstairs neighbor and the smell of weed came up the elevator shaft into my hallway and the air exchange system brought it into my bedroom.
I reported his activities to the police who paid him a friendly little visit. This motivated him to get an air filtration system for his apartment which solved the problem. (This was no mean feat since the trust fund baby hadn’t been motivated to do anything for years) He still smokes himself into a glassy-eyed, stupor every day, but I couldn’t care less because it’s not invading my personal space.
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You might if he lights the stove and forgets about it, or smokes in bed.
Glassy-eyed anything, whether from alcohol, weed, or drugs, is unsafe.
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You are right, B. I do think about that but have to choose my battles.
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Where's the smell coming from? A duplex isn't the same as a big apartment building. Is someone constantly getting high outside?
Do you smell it when you open your windows too? Maybe the A/C is the problem (a former tenant got high all the time and the filter's full of the smell).
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Bang on the door and demand sharesies.
Or just decide to cook a lot of fish in the microwave. Stink battle!
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What happened to just knocking on your neighbors door and relaying your problem? They might just say sorry and smoke outside moving forward.
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@Sascha -
Read the letter! She DID talk to the neighbor - who is also her landlord.
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I think you need to re read it. It does not say the landlord is the one smoking, just that they are a neighbor on the other side.
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Smoking outside doesn’t help the situation, either. When people smoke weed outside, it ruins the air and God forbid you have a window open - the stink invades. We nomsmokers are absolutely hostage to this problem. I know first hand.
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It's not clear that the source of the odor is the landlord's half of the duplex - only that the odor is apparent when the writer turns on the air-conditioning. Perhaps somebody needs to clean or replace the A/C filter?
(Yes, that's the landlord's responsibility - but maybe the writer could persuade him to do that before escalating the situation by threatening to withhold the rent.)
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If you choose to withhold rent, open an escrow account and have your rent deposited there. From nolo.com "...in some states and cities you can’t simply keep the rent money until your landlord fixes the problem. Instead, you might have to deposit the withheld rent with a court, a neutral third party, or an escrow account set up by a local court or housing agency until the repairs are accomplished."
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My co-op has a rule regarding offensive odors, cooking or otherwise, spreading to other units. Rental leases may not have such a provision, but check your lease just in case.
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I understand the thinking behind such a rule but struggle about the definition of ‘offensive.’ To whom? By what objective criteria?
Even excessive odor would be difficult to define let alone offensive odor.
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@Dionysios — Black’s Law Dictionary, re: “offensive” — “In the law relating to nuisances and similar matters, this term means noxious, causing annoyance, discomfort, or painful or disagreeable sensations.”
When one lives in a space that is also shared by others, some degree of discretion and respect is demanded. It is a community, and community well-being takes precedence — or it should, anyway. There are ways to mediate disputes in order to separate the true complaints from those that are merely harrassing.
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@Dionysios, you're more generous than I am. I don't understand the thinking behind such a rule. "Cooking and otherwise"? My neighbors do not get to dictate what I cook and eat any more than I get to dictate what they cook and eat. There aren't many foods that are completely odor free. Unless everyone lives on rice and cold cereal, it is literally impossible to adhere to such a rule. Why even put one in place?
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