Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The state law that made Massachusetts workplaces smoke-free seven years ago is considered an unqualified success. The public now has the expectation of smoke-free jobs, restaurants, shopping and public transportation, and high compliance rates have resulted in a healthier population and a decrease in the smoking rate to just 14 percent.
While people can go through the workday without being exposed to second-hand smoke, however, a number of condo owners and apartment dwellers face involuntary exposure in their own home due to smoking by neighbors. Second-hand smoke exposure in multi-unit housing is now the most common complaint called into the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program’s hotline.
Many building owners have attempted to stop the migration of second-hand smoke by using weather stripping and caulking and by replacing doors and windows. These efforts have had limited success, however, particularly in older properties. The response to a growing demand for smoke-free residential buildings is the adoption of building-wide no smoking rules.
Efforts to make housing smoke-free fall into two categories: market-rate housing and public housing.
For market-rate apartments, the lease agreement between landlord and tenant can mandate that no smoking take place inside the apartment. A 2009 marketing survey conducted in Massachusetts found that 81 percent of prospective tenants prefer smoke-free apartments and that 99 percent of landlords who chose to ban smoking in their properties said it was a good decision.
A health regulation in Amherst requires landlords to divulge to prospective tenants if smoking is allowed on their property. This requirement eliminates any confusion for a tenant who thinks an apartment property is smoke-free when in practice it is not; the requirement also provides recourse for that tenant.
Boston recently launched a smoke-free housing registry website where landlords can list, for free, their smoke-free apartments and tenants can locate smoke-free apartments (www.bostonsmokefreehomes.org). City health officials hope the result will be healthier tenants, fewer asthma attacks, and a reduction in complaints by adversely affected tenants.
Condominium associations may choose to ban smoking throughout their property by voting to change their association bylaws, using the same process they would for any other reasonable condition that is within a condominium board’s purview. Several 100-plus unit condominium properties in the greater Boston area have recently voted to ban smoking.
State law already bans smoking in the common areas of an apartment or condo complex.
Until recently, public housing authorities had no legal basis to determine eligibility for an apartment unit based on smoking status. On July 17, 2009, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued Notice PIH-2009-21 regarding “Non-Smoking Policies in Public Housing.” The notice “strongly encourages Public Housing Authorities to implement non-smoking policies in some or all of their public housing units.”
On Sept. 15, 2010, HUD issued Notice H 2010-21 recommending that owners of Section 8 housing institute a smoke-free housing policy and set out what that policy should contain.
Several housing authorities nationwide and in Massachusetts have undertaken steps based on HUD’s recommendations as well as other considerations, including continual complaints from tenants about second-hand smoke, fire concerns that include the use of oxygen in close proximity to smoking, and the cost to clean, paint and replace carpeting in apartments that were inhabited by smokers.
To date, seven cities and towns in Massachusetts have instituted property-wide smoking bans.
In 2010, the city of Boston surveyed 1,300 public housing residents about banning smoking in apartments, and roughly 90 percent supported the idea. In response, the Boston Housing Authority recently announced that when it renews leases, they will include a no-smoking clause. The year-long lease renewal effort will be completed in September 2012.
The Springfield Housing Authority plans to ban smoking in all its apartments by April 2012, and will extend the smoking ban to its outside property one year later.
Worcester this year banned smoking at its Curran Terrace apartments and at the high-rise Elm Park Tower Apartments. This was done after resident polling at those two sites indicated support for the idea. The city has not instituted the smoking ban in all its properties, so residents who smoke were given the option to move to a property that still permitted smoking. Very few residents opted to move, however. Cessation services were provided to all affected smokers.
Local housing authorities often provide the housing of “last resort” for many of their tenants, so it is recommended that they give ample notice to tenants before going smoke-free. A common approach is to wait until the lease renewal cycle has been completed and to have the new leases contain a smoking ban clause. This interim period provides an opportunity for holding on-site smoking cessation programs and designating an outdoor smoking area for tenants. It also allows smoking tenants to seek Section 8 housing instead of living in housing authority property. At the time the ban is instituted, it is treated like any other condition placed on tenants, such as rules regarding pets, noise and parking.