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, Michiganwww.mismokefreeapartment.orgwww.tcsg.org/sfelp/home.htm

Why smoke-free apartments?

• 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 dwellingunits are renter-occupied.

Toronto CMA: 37% rental

City of Toronto: 49% rental

-- Statistics Canada, 2001 Census

Millions live in rental dwellings

Ontario: about 3,783,822people live in rental dwellings

Toronto CMA: 1,623,456 people

City of Toronto: 1,254,231people-- Statistics Canada, 2001 Census

Smoke-free Households Are the Norm

In 2005, 64% of households in Canadawere 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 Canadawere 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, notthe exception, in Toronto & Ontario

But, most apartment & condo buildings are not smoke-free. A family with a

smoke-free policy in their apartment or condocan easily have secondhand smoke intrusions.

What’s the problem?

Secondhand smoke spreadsthroughout multi-unit

dwellings:

Air quality studies in apartment buildingsshow that anywhere from 5% to 60% ofthe air in apartment units comes fromother units in the building.

What’s the problem?

Secondhand smoke cannot be controlledby 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 Agencyreport, 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 multi-unit 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

Policies1) They don’t think it’s legal to do so2) Economic concerns that cut two ways: a) fearthat they won’t be able to rent units; but b) knowthat units with smokers cost much more to rehab. 3) Not sure how to transition buildings withsmokers to smoke-free status.4) Questions about enforcement of SF policies.5) Inertia: housing industry is lagging behind themarket 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 smokeentering their unit from nearby units do have

someforms of legal recourse to protect themselves.

Tenants can take legal action against landlords who

don’t make adequate provisions to protect themfrom 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 self-evident

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 inMichigan 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 multi-unit

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’sTobacco 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” multi-

unit 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 “smoke-

free” 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 theUpper 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 AvenueAnn Arbor, Michigan 48103

734 665-1126• jbergman@tcsg.org