Guidance for Smokefree Multi-Unit Housing скачать в хорошем качестве

Guidance for Smokefree Multi-Unit Housing

Exposed to secondhand smoke in your multi-unit Home? We strongly believe that everyone deserves to live in a safe, healthy, smokefree environment. This is an issue that can require both patience & persistence. Find this guide on our website: no-smoke.org. Here some suggestions to help you think about your options and take action. 1. First: If you feel safe doing so, have you spoken with your neighbor to let them know that their smoke is coming into your space? By letting them know that it’s creating a problem for you, they might be willing to change where they smoke. 2. Be sure to document when & where the smoke is coming into your unit, or patio, or where you’re experiencing it. Putting it in writing can demonstrate patterns and you’re documenting evidence of what is happening. This can be as simple as keeping a running list for a few weeks, on a notepad or your computer, where you might write: Thursday, February 13, 8-10pm, smoke on the patio again; or 7am smelling smoke in the bathroom. a. Pro Tip: You can also jot down any physical symptoms you may be experiencing. You can also share this information with your doctor and ask you physician for a letter to document the real physical effects of this exposure. 3. Next: Do you know if your building has a policy about where people can and cannot smoke? Look at your lease, or ask your management, about whether there is a smokefree policy for your building, and if so, what restrictions are in place. It’s helpful to know where you’re starting from. Your building may need to adopt a policy, or, if there’s already a policy that some residents are not following, then it’s time for management to take better steps to enforce the existing policy. We have tips available on our website for landlords & managers about how to communicate with residents to more effectively enforce a smokefree policy. 4. Also: It’s important for you to share your story & ask for what you need. It’s okay to speak up about wanting to breathe air in your home that’s free from toxic secondhand smoke! You can ask your landlord, property manager, HOA or other entity that’s in charge of making rules for your building, if they have a process in place for dealing with complaints about secondhand smoke. You can also ask them if they’d be interested in learning about why and how they can adopt a smokefree policy for your building—which is perfectly legal for them to do. They might be interested in learning that a smokefree building has lots of business benefits: including saving them money and time in maintenance costs, and it can help them attract and retain residents. The best way to communicate with your landlord is in writing, so sending them an email or letter is your best bet. 5. If you live in California, there are now more than 100 cities and counties that have adopted local laws that regulate smoking in multi-unit housing. Some of those laws are very strong and prohibit smoking inside all buildings, while other laws have more partial coverage. You can look at ANR Foundation’s list of smokefree multi-unit housing laws to see if there’s already a law in your community & what it covers—or whether your city still needs to take action to expand smokefree protections to include all multi-unit housing. 6. If you live in a city that does NOT have a smokefree law for multi-unit housing—whether you’re in California or any other state—this is a good opportunity to contact your local tobacco prevention program to let them know you’re exposed to secondhand smoke at home, and to ask them if there resources to support you and your landlord in going smokefree. You can also ask if there’s a local coalition that you can join—because there’s strength in numbers. a. How to find your local tobacco prevention program: depending on where you live there are often tobacco control and prevention programs as part of local, county, or state health departments. For example if you live in Oklahoma, there’s a state department of health which you can contact; search online or go to your public library for assistance. 7. We encourage you to contact your local city council member or other local elected leaders, to share your story. Letting our community partners & our local policymakers know that secondhand smoke exposure is a real problem for you—and letting them know that you support adopting a law to protect your ability to live in a safer, healthier, smokefree environment—are useful ways to demonstrate that you need and want change. Remember, sharing your story & asking for what you need is very powerful, and these are key parts of improving this challenging situation of being exposed to secondhand smoke at home. Sometimes you may need to enlist the help of an attorney in certain situations. Note that we don’t have referrals for legal assistance and our opinions are not legal advice, but a guideline to advocate for yourself. You’ve got this!