An article in today’s Boston Globe vividly describes an issue that I’ve not had to deal with personally, since I live in a single-family house, and for decades now, workplaces, airplanes and public buildings are thankfully smoke-free.
Apparently — and I’d be interested in feedback from people who live in apartment or condo buildings, large or small — the smoke and aroma of marijuana is pervasive perhaps in a way that even cigarette smoke is not. And even the plants themselves give off an odor? Here’s an excerpt:
Some condo associations in Greater Boston are trying to pass amendments to their governing documents that prohibit residents from smoking pot — or growing stinky pot plants — in their own homes. Management companies are installing high-tech in-unit detectors that send real-time alerts ratting out smokers. Lawyers are being retained to represent neighbors disturbed by smoke from those with medical marijuana permits.In Belmont, Boston, and Newton, even a dog with a nose for dope is being called in. A Belgian Malinois named Ben has been trained to detect drugs and regularly gets hired to sniff around exterior door seams in condos and apartments. His owner, Tom Robichaud, the founder of Discreet Intervention in Wrentham, described a typical scenario: “I get a call from someone who owns a three-family house and units two and three are complaining that unit number one is smoking dope or something.”
I grew up with parents who smoked cigarettes, and spent long car trips with my nose out the window begging my parents to please not smoke in the car. My rare exposures to second-hand marijuana smoke in college seemed to trigger migraine headaches. I remember the ’80s, how awful it was to walk into FARS (the Financial Accounting & Reporting Section of the GM Building in Detroit), where it seemed everybody smoked, how lucky I felt that I only seemed to share two-person offices with non-smokers, how I’d try to get seats on airplanes as far away from the ‘smoking’ section as possible. I would never want to live in a building that wasn’t completely smoke-free. But I do support medical marijuana, so what are the options for people who want to use it? And is there a right to clean air for those who don’t? Should condo associations be able to ban marijuana smoking but not tobacco cigarettes? (Since grandfathered tobacco smokers are apparently getting caught up in the marijuana dispute.) Or should they be able to ban tobacco cigarettes but not medical marijuana? (And would defining medical become like defining what’s a service animal?) Is eating medical marijuana as effective as smoking it? Is there a technical solution, that will suck in the smoke and keep it contained?
Landlords have the right to determine if someone is allowed to smoke in their property. The issue is that many medical marijuana patients rely on the drug for daily relief from some pretty serious illnesses.
I believe one solution is to have access to public places where people can go and smoke. However, the Cannabis Control Commission isn’t allowing social consumption at bars/lounges. This is a mistake, unless you want to push smokers back into their apartments.
Julia, some of the questions at the end of your article are weird and could probably be figured out in a basic google search about how cannabis works.
Second-hand smoke, impaired driving, the health impacts of long-term use…these issues are for squares.
Oh and check out the latest news, which underscores the grassroots populism of marijuana commercialization…those lovable Republicans John Boehner and Bill Weld have both joined the boards of of weed companies to offer their expertise! They are too cool for school.
What a complete con job by Wall St. this movement was.
Julia,
I have walked through Avery woods which abuts Day middle
school. On a few occasions students have been huddled in the woods smoking weed. The pungent smell travels quickly
throughout the entire wooded area. For me, I find this unpleasant.
I am not sure about my 2 dogs though.
I haven’t eaten meat in 43 years. The smell of meat cooking makes me nauseous. That doesn’t mean I think meat should be illegal. I’ve never walked over to a neighbors house and asked them to douse their bar-b-que. Some things you just deal with…
Nevertheless, I’m totally sympathetic to anyone not wanting to inhale marijuana smoke. It’s no different than most people’s desire to not inhale tobacco smoke. Smoke is smoke! Apartment buildings or condo associations should have the right to ban smoking, but they should not have the right to single-out and ban cannabis. The rules should be the same, regardless of the source…
Edibles are too undependable for many medical cannabis patients. The effects vary depending on other factors like when a patient last ate food…
The answer for apartment dwellers is vaping, a 100% smokeless alternative to smoking. If I was bothered by cannabis smoke from a neighboring apartment unit, [an issue that’s been grossly overstated by the anti-cannabis crowd], I’d ask them to try vaping instead. It’s a simple solution! All the cannabis dispensaries sell vape pens and cartridges [which are made from processed, liquified cannabis]. Vaping works as effectively as smoking for most cannabis patients. Anyone who wants to ban vaping from an apartment or condo complex is likely just hiding their anti-cannabis agenda behind other false concerns.
@Mike Striar, I’m glad there’s a smokeless alternative for people who are not mobile or using it for nausea. (Who wants to get in a car to go somewhere when they’re nauseous?) I’m fairly clueless about the paraphernalia of either legal or illegal use, so I’ll have to check out YouTube to see what vaping looks like.
@Colleen, are you saying you think your dogs might be enjoying it? ;-) Either way, I hope anyone smoking anything in the woods is careful during dry seasons. Don’t need a forest fire. Losing enough trees.
Julia,
Colleen seemed to imply middle school students.. being considerate while smoking illegal weed is probably the last thing of their minds…
Luckily it was marijuana and not tobacco…imagine how devastated and disappointed their parents would be if it was tobacco instead of weed!!
There are a couple different issues being conflated in the article, and here… There is the smoke issue. I don’t think anyone is going to disagree that breathing second-hand smoke is unacceptable. There is the odor issue. Odor is not smoke, but certainly it can be a problem whether it’s smoke odor, pet odors, food odors or strong perfumes. Third is the issue of growing plants indoors… which purportedly can be stinky, and requires water, lights and warmth?
Seems to me etiquette 101 — if your neighbors can clearly tell whenever you’re doing X , either find a way to be more considerate and discreet, or don’t do it. On the other hand, if someone keeps potted plants, seems to me it’s nobody else’s business if the plant happens to be pot.