Capital District Tobacco-Free Communities applauds the Albany County Legislature for passing new measures on April 12 to protect residents of multi-unit housing from the harmful effects of exposure to secondhand smoke. Local Law “I” prohibits smoking and vaping of tobacco, marijuana or any similar product in indoor common areas and within ten feet of any windows and other ventilation intake.
Eighty-one percent of homes in New York have a “smoke-free house” rule, including 37% of households in which a smoker lives.[i] For residents of multi-unit housing, a rule in their own unit isn’t enough to protect them from secondhand smoke. In addition to protecting multi-unit housing residents, the measure also protects the health of employees working in those buildings. Local Law “I” strengthens and goes beyond New York’s Clean Indoor Air Act, which prohibits smoking in workplaces, by requiring written notice and enacting civil penalties for violation.
Read CDTFC’s Press Release on Local Law I here. To learn more about Smoke-Free Housing, visit our Smoke-Free Housing page.
[i] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. MMWR-Prevalence of Smokefree Home Rules- United States, 1992-1993 and 2010-2011. September 5, 2014/63(35);765-769
To the left is a typical tobacco product display. If you don’t use tobacco, you may not even notice, but kids do. Kids see. Kids notice. Kids remember. In fact, kids are more than twice as likely as adults to notice and remember retail tobacco marketing.