Carlsbad, CA (August 21, 2024) – At their August 20th meeting, the Carlsbad City Council voted 4-1 in favor of adopting a comprehensive smoke-free multi-family housing ordinance for all properties with at least 3 or more units located within the City of Carlsbad. The decision places Carlsbad as the first city in San Diego County to adopt such an ordinance.
Exposure to secondhand smoke is responsible for over 40,000 deaths in the United States each year. According to the US Surgeon General, there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke and it can cause immediate harm even in brief exposures, especially for our most vulnerable residents – infants, children, pregnant women, elderly adults and those with compromised immune systems. Secondhand smoke can travel through walls and floors, ventilations systems and even electrical systems, exposing non-smoking residents to secondhand smoke from neighboring units. Many cities and counties in California have taken the step to expand smoke-free protections for their residents: as of April 1, 2024, there are 84 municipalities in the state of California that have a policy that prohibits smoking in 100% of private units of multi-unit housing properties, according to American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation.
Policies that prohibit smoking and vaping for apartment and condominium communities will provide equitable opportunities for everyone to enjoy a safe and healthy living arrangement, despite whether or not they own their residences. For most residents of multi-family housing communities, moving out is not a simple or inexpensive process. And moving out should not be the answer for families that are experiencing secondhand smoke or vape exposure. Therefore, comprehensive smoke-free policies can fully protect people from secondhand smoke exposure of any kind, ensuring a safe, healthy environment for all who live, work and visit these communities. Furthermore, turning over units previously occupied by a smoking resident can be costly for property owners to clean and ready for new residents. Residue from secondhand smoke, known as thirdhand smoke, can get imbedded in drywall, paint, carpeting and curtains. Thirdhand smoke can also cause harmful health consequences if not removed, which is very difficult to do.
At the first reading of the ordinance on July 30th, Carlsbad City Council approved the ordinance in a 4-1 vote. To address concerns regarding the role of the Council in applying laws that regulate actions in a resident’s private home, Mayor Blackburn said, “I’m looking at part of the job of legislator…We have to watch out for the best interest for the majority of the public. That’s why we have so many rules that dictate whether we can smoke in restaurants and all the other things that rules and laws are dictating to make sure we have a good quality of life for everybody.” Despite these concerns, there were several comments in support of the ordinance from community members, including Carlsbad resident, high school student and American Cancer Society-Cancer Action Network volunteer, Patrick Mason. “I am proud that my city will be the first in the county to provide these protections and I hope that tonight’s actions can inspire other cities to take this important step,” said Mason.
Carlsbad’s ordinance will ban smoking and vaping of any kind inside and outside apartments, condos and other multi-unit homes
, except for certain designated outdoor spaces. Lease agreements are required to include the smoke-free ordinance language and landlords can enforce the policy through the same means they enforce other policies for their properties. The ordinance allows private enforcement, meaning landlords and other tenants may take legal action against violators. The new ordinance will go into effect 30 days after the adoption on August 20th. The rules regarding enforcement go into effect January 1, 2025.
About VCC
With eleven state-of-the-art locations in North San Diego, Orange, and Riverside Counties, VCC provides affordable, high quality health care to more than 70,000 community residents. Services offered by VCC include primary care, pediatrics, prenatal and women’s health, optometry, chiropractic care, dental health, podiatry, acupuncture, and behavioral health services. VCC also offers a wide array of community health education programs which are free and open to all community residents. VCC is recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a Level 3 (highest) Patient-Centered Medical Home and is the recipient of the HRSA National Quality Leader Seal for exceeding national clinical quality benchmarks. For more information call 760.631.5000 or visit www.vcc.org.
