Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.And in Carlsbad, California, there might also be a nosy neighbour there to call the cops.That’s because the town council of the surfing hotspot near San Diego has voted to prohibit people from lighting up in apartments, condos or other multi-family residences on public health grounds. And that includes balconies, porches and decks.Starting in January, residents of the 114,000 people town will not be able to smoke or vape cannabis products in any of those areas. The law does not apply to single-family homes, or hotels and motels that allow it..At least 84 other California municipalities, including Beverly Hills, Cupertino and Pasadena have similar ordinances.The law is being backed by the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation. Due to limited resources, police will not enforce the law but landlords and other tenants will be able to take legal action against wrong-doers.Critics have accused the statutes as an example of government overreach, but supporters say they have to take into account the common good considering smoking kills nearly half a million people in the US each year.A Carlsbad City Council staff report showed that secondhand smoke can travel through multi-unit housing walls, ceilings and ventilation systems. According to the American Cancer Society, it contains more than 7,000 chemicals — hundreds of which are toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer..Melanie Burkholder, a Carlsbad council member — the lone vote against the ban — 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.”Local residents wrote angry letters to council claiming the ordinance was an “insult” to city workers and workers trying to enforce the ban were “tools of the progressive left.”Will Creagan, chairman of a San Diego County-based property management company, said in a letter to city staff: “So you pass an ordinance and then tell the property managers, ‘You need to enforce this’ … good luck.”In this case, however, it may actually be a case of the tyranny of the majority imposing its will on a dwindling minority.According to government statistics, the number of smokers in the US has steadily been declining to about 11% of the population in 2022 compared to about 50% in the 1960s.
