About the Campaign

In June and July 2020, The Towers conducted a survey of residents and owners showing that a supermajority of respondents—67%—support a bylaw amendment that would ban smoking in units and on balconies. Currently, smoking is only prohibited in common areas. Comments in the survey revealed that current policies are inadequate at addressing the secondhand smoke that is impacting many residents at the Towers.

In September 2021, the Towers Board approved a resolution to put a smokefree policy proposal to the community for a vote. To see the text of the proposed Declaration amendment, click here.

The need for change is clear. Going smokefree would be a great amenity for the Towers, and would improve the health, wellbeing, and safety of all residents. Read on for more information about the campaign. And if you would like to volunteer, please send us an email!

Resident Feedback about Secondhand Smoke

Although only 8% of survey respondents indicated that someone smoked in their unit, the number of people impacted by secondhand smoke is far greater given the way that secondhand smoke travels through vents and hallways, under doors and around gaps in the walls. One person smoking in their unit can be felt by everyone around them, above, below and sideways. The Towers Management Office receives complaints about smoking roughly once a week. The scale of the issue was evident in comments on the smoking survey and in feedback people have provided to the committee. Here is a small sample of those comments:

Comments on the Towers Smoking Survey

I have had cigarette smoke coming in from under my front door, the hallway closet, and the bathroom vent. My partner and I are planning to have children in the next 5 years, so the issue of second hand smoke is quite important to us.

I've been an owner in the Towers since 2004 and I have problems with odors getting into my apartment from smoking residents. The neighbors downstairs are heavy smokers. I covered the vents in the bathrooms to minimize the smoke, but it is not working.

On one windy evening, a cigarette ember from another balcony ignited a fire in one of our balcony planters! We feel strongly that other people’s smoking habits impact our lives and health, and even safety.

I’m a cancer survivor (B-cell lymphoma) and I do not want to be exposed to secondhand smoking in the hallways of my building where I walk from the garage to my unit (which I own). Smoking should not be allowed because it travels through vents and reeks the hallways.

I was a smoker and developed very bad asthma. I have been smoke free for 20 years. So glad I gave it up.

I normally do not care what people do in their own units, but when my neighbors smoke on their balconies the smell comes into my unit, forcing me to close my windows.

I lived in a unit where the neighbor smoked and it was like having a smoker in my home. At one point in my present unit, a smoker who lived on the other side of the elevator banks, her smoke would come into my unit from the hallway! When a neighbor smokes on the balcony, it comes into my unit.

I live near the unit that caught on fire due to a lit cigarette. The fire was minor, but it is still a hazard. I also just hate the smell, as it pervades my unit and hallways.

I have to put towels down in front of the doors so the odor doesn't come into my apartment. I have woken up in the middle of the night and my living room smells like an ash tray. You can't open your windows without the smell wafting in from somewhere.

I frequently smell cigarette smoke in my bedroom first thing in the morning. Gross!

As a nurse for 40 years it shocks me that we are still arguing about a well known cariogenic product that causes negative health outcomes for not only the individual but for anyone around them. I vote for banning smoking in the building for the sake of everyone and because it will increase the property value of the building by making it a more desirable place to live. If nothing else, do it for the children that live in the building — it can cause permanent damage to their lungs.

I have been unable to use my balcony for years. My neighbors had to move out because smoke filled their entire apartment constantly despite three very expensive air filters. They sold their place in 2016 and moved to a smokefree building in Arlington.

Many afternoons and evenings as I decide relax in my nice apartment I am put off by the nasty cigarette smoke coming through the air vent. The horrid smell ruins not only ruins my peace and gives me a nauseous feeling in my stomach, but it also makes me cough. I have sensitive lungs and I am bothered by the fact that I am exposed to secondhand smoke that can threaten my health. Something has to be done about this.

I am a senior, I am very allergic to cigarette smoke. I suffer with asthma, I think smoking is bad for everyone. Two very close relatives died young. They were both addicted to smoking.

Smokers may feel it is their civil right to smoke, it is also my civil right to not be forced to breathe the smoke they create… it is enough of a regular issue for me to purchase an air filter for my unit just to reduce the second hand cigar smoke from a neighboring unit.

If I had smelled smoke on my level when I was initially viewing it, I would not have purchased it.

I had a neighbour who chain smoked in an adjacent unit. The smoke drifted up, when she left her window open. I was scared she would fall asleep with a lit cigarette and burn the place down.

Watch this video to learn about how smoke can travel through a multi-unit building:

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about Secondhand Smoke

+ What are the health impacts of smoking and secondhand smoke?

Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the US, including more than 41,000 deaths from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day. On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.

Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer. Since 1964, approximately 2,500,000 nonsmokers have died from health problems caused by exposure to secondhand smoke.

It is estimated that secondhand smoke caused nearly 34,000 heart disease deaths and more than 7,300 lung cancer deaths each year during 2005–2009 among adult nonsmokers in the United States.

In children, secondhand smoke causes ear infections, asthma and other respiratory ailments and infections, and creates a greater risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

In adults, secondhand smoke is a cause of heart disease, heart attacks, asthma and other respiratory ailments, lung cancer, and many other illnesses.

According to Yale Medicine, multiple studies have shown that smoking is associated with increased severity of COVID-19 disease.

+ What are the benefits of becoming a smokefree community?

“I think it's a smart investment… Being smokefree is an amenity, just like a pool or a tennis court.” - Sun Sentinel

Going smokefree saves money by reducing the need for repairs, reduces potential legal liability, eliminates the leading cause of residential fires, reduces conflicts among tenants, increases the resale value of your property, and reduces exposure to carcinogenic chemicals.

+ How has secondhand smoke impacted residents at the Towers?

Through the survey, a town hall, and individual conversations, residents have shared their struggles with secondhand smoke. See the testimonies above for examples of the kinds of comments people commonly share.

Questions about TOWeRs Rules, Regulations, and By-LAWS

+ Why does the Towers want to ban smoking?

We want to create a healthier, safer, and cleaner living environment for all residents, including people who smoke and their families. A 2020 Towers survey found that 67% of respondents support a total ban on smoking.

+ What are the current rules and regulations about smoking at the Towers?

In the Rules and Regulations, section III. D 2. it states that “Residents shall not permit noxious fumes, tobacco smoke, or objectionable cooking odors to escape from their units” and in section VI. A, it states that “smoking is prohibited in all common elements”. These rules do not take into account that smoke will always travel to neighboring units even with ventilation and filtration.

+ How would a smoking ban change the status quo?

This new policy would make the entire building smokefree, not just the common areas, and would impose stricter consequences (like fines) for infractions.

+ How are you defining "smoking"?

The term “smoking” means the act of smoking or carrying a lighted or smoldering cigar, cigarette or pipe of any kind or lighting a cigar, cigarette or pipe of any kind, regardless of the substance contained therein. The policy would include marijuana and electronic cigarettes.

+ What about medical marijuana?

Federal nondiscrimination laws do not require public housing authorities and owners to allow marijuana use as a reasonable accommodation for disabilities. In addition, several methods for ingesting medical marijuana exist that would not expose other residents to marijuana smoke, such as edibles, tinctures, beverages, oils, and pills. Learn more at publichealthlawcenter.org.

Questions about Implementation

+ Won't a smoking ban infringe on the rights of smokers?

"A smoker can always exit the building and smoke on the sidewalk — but a person who wants to breathe clean air cannot leave their home and live on the sidewalk." - Habitat Magazine

Smokefree policies are not discriminatory. There is no constitutional right to smoke and people who smoke are not a protected class.

A smokefree building does not mean that people who smoke cannot live in the building, or that people who smoke must quit. It simply means that people cannot smoke inside the building.

More than 50 cities and counties have adopted local laws requiring all multi-unit housing in the community to be smokefree. In addition, federal public housing is smokefree as of 2019.

The Towers is at risk for legal liabilities by not taking action to protect residents from involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke.

+ Won't a smoking ban turn away potential residents?

Quite the opposite. People increasingly want their living environment to be smokefree to protect their health and belongings, and are looking for smokefree housing options. Communities who go smokefree will appeal to this growing segment of buyers.

A recent national survey found that nearly 30% of multiunit housing residents live in smokefree buildings. However, 56% would support a smokefree policy for their building. This indicates that there is more demand for smokefree housing than supply.

In another survey, 88% of prospective condo owners are less interested in a development if they smell tobacco smoke.

In a 2015 survey, 90% of Twin Cities real estate agents said that nonsmoking units were easier to sell than smoking units.

And in a 2019 survey of 329 realtors in the Philadelphia area, 96% said that they had greater difficulty selling smoking units.

Several historic condos and co-ops in the DC area have already gone smokefree including Wentworth Place and Hyde Park in Arlington, Grosvenor Park III in North Bethesda, and the Westwood in Cathedral Heights.

+ Can't we just fix the building ventilation or buy air purifiers?

According to the CDC and the NIH, "There are currently no engineering approaches, including ventilation and air cleaning, that can fully eliminate the risk of secondhand smoke exposure (in multi-unit buildings)." See the video above to learn how smoke travels through multi-unit buildings.

+ What should I do if smoke is entering my unit right now?

Please email Mustapha in the management office with details, especially the unit number where the smoke is coming from. With these details, management can ask the owner to address the issue. Enforcement options are limited until a total ban is implemented.

+ Where can I find information on how to quit?

Visit smokefree.gov for resources on quitting. The website includes helpful tips on how to create a quit plan, mobile aps, online chat with professionals, and more.