The LA Times reports that Smokers living in apartments, condos, and townhomes in Carlsbad will not be allowed to smoke inside their homes.
The beach city Tuesday became the first in San Diego County to expressly ban smoking and vaping of cannabis and nicotine products inside all local multifamily residential buildings.
While the city’s ordinance prompted some complaints about the government prying into residents’ private lives, others applauded city leaders for prioritizing the health of nonsmokers living in units that are inundated by their neighbors’ secondhand smoke.
Advocates of the ban noted that cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, resulting in more than 480,000 deaths annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Secondhand smoke exposure can cause a variety of ailments, including heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer, federal health officials say.
The London Times reports:
Melanie Burkholder, a Carlsbad council member, told the San Diego Union-Tribune: “I wrestle with the idea of how can I tell somebody what they can or can’t do in the confines of their own place where they live. But … we have to watch out for the best interests of the majority of the public.”
At least 84 of California’s 483 municipalities — including Beverly Hills, Cupertino and Pasadena — have enacted similar bans in multi-family private residences, according to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation.
What happened to Tim Walz’s “mind your own business” mantra?
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