Santa Monica's City Council Considers Smoking Restrictions

Smoking in Santa Monica's apartment buildings may be restricted, and banned altogether in new hotels.

The City Council directed  staff to prepare ordinances banning smoking in all newly-constructed hotels and requiring landlords to designate apartments in multi-family buildings as either smoking or non-smoking units.

Mayor Pro Tem Gleam Davis expressed concern that banning smoking in multi-family units would interfere with smokers' rights to housing, especially with regard to Santa Monica's housing first program for homeless people.

Currently, Santa Monica's policy is to find housing for homeless people before they get off drugs, drinking or smoking.

The vast majority of smokers come from low-income households, which, the staff report notes, may lead to a disproportionate impact of smoking restrictions on poorer people.

Mayor Richard Bloom suggested that people be restricted from smoking inside their buildings, as they now are in the workplace, saying that they can step outside if they want to smoke.

O'Day said that, like Davis, he was worried about the effect of smoking bans on people's right to housing. But some people have been forced to move due to health issues caused by secondhand smoke, he said.

The Council will discuss the issue further at a later date. 

 

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Source: The Lookout News