Smoking at Home Now Illegal for Many in San Rafael, Calif.

[briarfriar]

Reason magazine posted this article several hours ago. The town fathers of San Rafael, California have outlawed smoking tobacco in multi-family homes, including apartment houses, condominiums, etc. Reason is a journal of libertarian opinion and current events. Read all about it here.
(If I recall correctly from my youth, San Rafael is the home base, at least in the business/commerce sense, of the Grateful Dead. The mind reels.)
Jay

 

[brian64]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giLxEvWfB-E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0oTp7qQRIY

 

[simnettpratt]

Yeah, even if you OWN the condo! I believe Hawaii does the same thing, share a wall, illegal to smoke. In your own damn castle. Not sure if it applies to 'medicinal' smoking. What bothers me most is these creatures think they have the right to do this.

 

[onepyrotec]

Not shocked since their neighbors an hour south outlawed smoking in the town several years ago.

 

[sablebrush52]

That's ridiculous.

 

[jeepnewbie]

What can we do to stop this foolishness? Granted I don't live over there but still that is stupid. My apartment in MS I lived in years ago, not sure if we wasn't allowed to smoke in it or not but for some reason I sat out on the balcony and smoked my pipes. Then again maybe it was because I wanted to watch the world pass by as I relaxed.

 

[dryseason91]

I mentioned elsewhere that I support some tobacco legislation but that it's very easy for it to stumble into the realms of absurdity. This is a prime example.

 

[judcole]

Reading the article, I note with interest that it's mentioned that there is no indication in the ordnance who is to enforce it. It appears that another resident would have to notice and file a complaint. It mentions that an informational pamphlet for landlords suggests threatening with eviction; but what about owner occupied dwellings? It almost appears to be a feel-good thing without a really clear means of enforcement.

 

[jeepnewbie]

You gotta love how it states "by creating new crime". I have to look into GA now to see if they are doing any crazy stuff like this.

 

[jservant98]

What can we do to stop this foolishness?

I would say just go ahead and light up anyway! Just kidding....Maybe

 

[ssjones]

Reading the article, I note with interest that it's mentioned that there is no indication in the ordnance who is to enforce it.

Yep, and I bet if you ask the local PD, they want no parts of this. Maryland does this all the time, like Cell phone laws that aren't enforced.

 

[stbruno70]

The antis will not stop until tobacco itself is outlawed.

 

[Perique]

Let those who would advocate the banning of their neighbor's joy find their joy one day banned.
It takes courage to defend the rights of others to do or to possess those things that one finds personally distasteful. And we have a great deficit of such courage in the modern West.

 

[phred]

I used to live in an apartment upstairs from a couple who smoked some truly rancid cigarettes, and to be perfectly honest, it's something I really don't miss about apartment living. What you do, even in the privacy of your own home, can and does have an effect on other people and should be taken into account when dealing with them.
That being said, I never demanded that the people downstairs stop smoking, nor did it ever occur to me to get the apartment management involved, much less the city council or the legislature. And this was back when I was an anti myself...

 

[brian64]

Reading the article, I note with interest that it's mentioned that there is no indication in the ordnance who is to enforce it. It appears that another resident would have to notice and file a complaint.

Such ordinances are designed that way intentionally for 2 reasons:
1) To help nurture a snitch culture.
2) To allow for selective enforcement.

 

[kashmir]

Tsk, tsk, tsk. Jerry Garcia is probably turning over in his grave!

 

[pylorns]

@brian64 Ah we're going to have to turn you in for that comment.. sorry.

 

[mso489]

I hope it is obligatory for the city and the individual landlords to publicize this to anyone thinking of moving

to town, so they won't. It would be totally unfair to spring this on people after they've signed the lease or

condo contract. Then see how the realtors and apartment owners wish to proceed with campaign contribution,

find out who would be just as happy living elsewhere. See how long the law stays on the books. Actions have

consequences.

 

[brian64]

@pylorns: LOL ... fortunately for me I don’t live in the People’s Republic of California.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. Jerry Garcia is probably turning over in his grave!

Yes, what a shame. They “haven’t had that spirit there since 1969”.
It’s a brand new Kalifornia now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAwqumoO0Ds

 

[05venturer]

They ever tried pulling my pipe out of my hands in my own home it wouldn't be a pretty site.

Just as bad as my guns