Transcript Document

Smoke-Free Multi-Unit
Dwellings Are Coming -- How
We’re Going to Make it
Happen
Toronto, Ontario November 28, 2007
Presenter
Jim Bergman, J.D.
Smoke-Free Environments Law Project
The Center for Social Gerontology, Inc.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.mismokefreeapartment.org
www.tcsg.org/sfelp/home.htm
Why smoke-free apartments?
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SHS in apts affects millions of people
Secondhand smoke cannot be controlled
Health risks the same as elsewhere
Tenants want smoke-free apartments
Increasing numbers of complaints about
secondhand smoke infiltration in apts
• It’s legal to do
• Good deal for landlords
Millions live in rental dwellings
Ontario, 32% of dwelling
units are renter-occupied.
Toronto CMA: 37% rental
City of Toronto: 49% rental
-- Statistics Canada, 2001 Census
Millions live in rental dwellings
Ontario: about 3,783,822
people live in rental dwellings
Toronto CMA: 1,623,456
people
City of Toronto: 1,254,231
people
-- Statistics Canada, 2001 Census
Smoke-free Households Are
the Norm
In 2005, 64% of households in Canada
were totally smoke-free
Ontario: 71% smoke-free
British Columbia: 77% smoke-free
Quebec: 43% smoke-free
-- 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey
Smoke-free Households Are
the Norm
In 2005, 40% of households in Canada
were totally smoke-free
Ontario: 46% smoke-free
British Columbia: 52% smoke-free
Quebec: 23% smoke-free
-- 2005 Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey
Smoke-free is the norm, but ...
Smoke-free homes are the norm, not
the exception, in Toronto & Ontario
But, most apartment & condo
buildings
are not smoke-free. A family with a
smoke-free policy in their apartment or condo
can easily have secondhand smoke
intrusions.
What’s the problem?
Secondhand smoke spreads
throughout multi-unit dwellings:
Air quality studies in apartment buildings
show that anywhere from 5% to 60% of
the air in apartment units comes from
other units in the building.
What’s the problem?
Secondhand smoke cannot be
controlled
by ventilation or air cleaning: On June 30,
2005, the American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating & Air-Conditioning Engineers
(ASHRAE) issued their latest position document on
secondhand smoke. It states: “At present, the
only
means of effectively eliminating health risk
associated with indoor exposure is to ban smoking
activity.” www.ashrae.org
Secondhand Smoke is Deadly
• It is a Group A carcinogen -- a
substance known to cause cancer in
humans for which there is no safe
level of exposure.
National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences Report,
issued May 15, 2000. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
report, issued July, 1993.
Secondhand Smoke is Deadly
• It is a Toxic Air Contaminant, putting
secondhand smoke in the same
category as the most toxic automotive
and industrial air pollutants.
California Air Resources Board Report, issued January 26,
2006 by
the California Environmental Protection Agency.
The Surgeon General has
concluded:
• There is no risk-free level of exposure to
secondhand smoke. Breathing even a little
secondhand smoke can be harmful.
• The only way to fully protect yourself and your
loved ones from the dangers of secondhand
smoke is through 100% smoke-free
environments.
Surgeon General’s Report on Secondhand Smoke, issued June
27,
2006
Tenants want smoke-free apts
• Ipsos Reid poll in 2006 found 64% of all multiunit dwellers in Ontario would choose a unit in a
smoke-free building over one where smoking is
permitted
• Healthy Androscoggin in Auburn, Maine
surveyed 850 tenants; 76% would choose to
live in a smoke-free apartment complex
• Twin Cites (MN): random sample survey -- 55%
of renters said they had moved or would move
from an apartment because of secondhand
smoke seepage
For opinion surveys: www.tcsg.org/sfelp/public.htm
Apartment secondhand smoke
seepage complaints increase
• Most tobacco control programs now
receive more complaints from people
about secondhand smoke seepage in
apartments than any other complaint
• Tenants beginning to realize they don’t
have to accept this problem
• Tenants aware of dangers of
secondhand smoke
Barriers to Landlords Adopting
Smoke-Free Policies
1) They don’t think it’s legal to do so
2) Economic concerns that cut two ways: a) fear
that they won’t be able to rent units; but b) know
that units with smokers cost much more to rehab.
3) Not sure how to transition buildings with
smokers to smoke-free status.
4) Questions about enforcement of SF policies.
5) Inertia: housing industry is lagging behind the
market and the desires of tenants for SF housing.
What Can Landlords Legally
Do?
Apartment owners are permitted by federal and
provincial law to adopt total smoke-free
policies.
There is no right to smoke enshrined in
Canadian
law.
Smokers are not a protected class nor
recognized
as having a disability under the Canadian
Charter
of Rights and Freedoms.
Tenants have legal rights too
Tenants who are bothered by secondhand
smoke
entering their unit from nearby units do have
some
forms of legal recourse to protect themselves.
Tenants can take legal action against landlords
who
don’t make adequate provisions to protect
them
from secondhand smoke.
Economic concerns
The market for smoke-free housing is
huge
About 80% of adults don’t smoke
About 90% of persons 65+ don’t smoke
Many smokers don’t want smoke in their home
Most apartment buildings allow smoking;
the marketplace is way behind demand
Economic concerns
Smoking damages residential property:
• Poses fire hazard
• Causes cigarette burn damage and stench to
carpets, counters, etc.
• Leaves smoke residue on walls and curtains, etc.
Economic concerns
Smoking residue increases cost of
rehabilitating apartment when smoker
moves out
Landlords estimate it costs $500 to $6,000 more to
rehab an apartment in which a smoker lived than a
non-smoker.
Economic concerns:
Cigarette Fires
About 13% of home fires in Ontario are caused by
cigarettes and smokers’ articles. (Cigarettes are #1
cause of home-fire deaths.)
Fire damage can cause apartment units to go off-line
for months.
Water and smoke damage to adjoining units can take
them off-line, as well.
Former residents have to find alternative housing and
probably won’t return.
Transitioning to Smoke-Free
To implement a smoke-free policy in a multi-unit
dwelling where smoking residents already reside:
• Establish a date on which all new residents must not
smoke inside.
• Decide how much time current resident smokers will
have before their lease will include the smoke-free
requirement (aka “grandfathering”).
Enforcement of Smoke-Free
Policies
• Private and public landlords uniformly report that
enforcement is not an issue
• Residents consistently follow the rule
• Violators of the smoke-free rule are most likely
violators of other rules
• Eviction possible; rarely, if ever, occurs
Addressing marketplace inertia
• Major media efforts, including housing trade media
• Joining apartment management associations
• Promoting word-of-mouth among housing leaders
about the value of smoke-free policies
• Working with newspapers & online apartment listing
operators to add “smoke-free” as an amenity item
• Promoting “smoke-free” as an amenity item that
should be used in marketing by apartment
owners/managers
All truth passes through 3
stages
1st: it is ridiculed
2nd: it is violently opposed
3rd: it is accepted as being selfevident
We avoided much of the first 2 stages by taking a
voluntary approach, involving local partners,
being knowledgeable, being accessible, using
media, and working hard.
Approaches to Get Smoke-Free
Policies Adopted
Voluntary approaches being used in most states
and localities, including: MI, ME, MN, UT, OR,
WA, MD, OH, NY, NYC, CA, NJ, WV, WA, HI,
ID, MA, etc. Also in all the Canadian Provinces
where this is being worked on.
Legislative approach being tried in California.
Also, used to some extent in Utah in 1990s.
MISmokeFreeApartment as an
Example of a Voluntary
Approach
MISmokeFreeApartment initiative begun
in
Michigan in 2004 because:
• Other remedies, including legal, weren’t getting
the results we hoped for.
• We thought landlords would adopt smoke-free
policies if they were sure it was legal.
• We didn’t think a legislative approach would
succeed at this time.
Goal of
MISmokeFreeApartment
Initiative
To make smoke-free multiunit
housing the norm in
Michigan
The MISmokeFreeApartment
initiative includes:
• MISmokeFreeApartment web site info &
materials
• Assistance from SFELP & local partners
• Press releases and media initiatives
• Postcard mailings to landlords
• Surveys of smoke-free apartment availability
• Listing of smoke-free apartments on web site
• Radio ads
• Billboards
The MISmokeFreeApartment
partners include:
Local health departments and coalitions.
Michigan Dept. of Community Health’s
Tobacco Section
Smoke-Free Environments Law Project
(SFELP)
Smoke-free apartments in
2004?
• Virtually no smoke-free apartments or
condos could be found in Michigan in
private or public housing
• Most landlords thought it was illegal to
have a smoke-free policy
• Most newspapers thought it was illegal to
allow ads saying “no smoking” or “SF”
• Most tenants didn’t realize they had some
rights to smoke-free housing
Was the MISmokeFree
Apartment Initiative
successful?
• Many tens of thousands of units of SF market-rate
apartments and condos in Michigan
• Plus, well over 6,000 units of SF “affordable” multiunit housing in Michigan
• 23 public housing commissions in MI have
adopted SF policies (all in 27 months)
• Most newspapers now allow “smoke-free” ads
• Some online apt listing services now have “smokefree” as an amenity item
Smoke-Free Housing Commissions
The MISmokeFreeApartment
Initiative awarded:
Michigan Cancer Consortium’s
Spirit of Collaboration Award
2006
“All I can say is Wow! They made an impact from
the
Upper Peninsula to Southeast Michigan!” Reviewer
To contact SFELP
• www.mismokefreeapartment.org
• Smoke-Free Environments Law
Project www.tcsg.org/sfelp/home.htm
• Smoke-Free Environments Law Project
The Center for Social Gerontology, Inc.
2307 Shelby Avenue
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103
734 665-1126
• [email protected]