Proponents of the ban point out that smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, with more than 480,000 smoking-related deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Aerial view of Carlsbad, San Diego County, California. Photo: ShutterstockFederal health officials say passive smoking can cause a variety of diseases, including heart disease, stroke and lung cancer.
“This is more than a nuisance,” resident Katrina Preece told the city council about the effects of secondhand smoke in 2023. “It's a painful and alarming health hazard.”
A lot of times, managers don't want a confrontation because it's just policy… We're going to give them the tools. Carlsbad Mayor Keith Blackburn on the benefits of a smoking ban Carlsbad officials began discussing an ordinance about a year ago that would have banned smoking in apartment buildings with three or more units.
Smoking has been permitted in restaurants, stores and even on airplanes for decades.
At least 84 California municipalities, including Beverly Hills, Culver City, Manhattan Beach and Pasadena, have banned smoking in some apartment complexes, according to the American Non-Smokers' Rights Foundation.
The Carlsbad ordinance not only prohibits smoking inside private homes, it also prohibits smoking on private balconies, porches, decks, patios and common areas that are not designated smoking areas. The law does not apply to single-family homes.
Mayor Keith Blackburn said at a city council meeting in August 2023 that a smoking ban would make it easier for property managers to enforce the no-smoking policy. Some Carlsbad complexes already have no-smoking clauses in their leases.
Many Carlsbad residents support the ban on smoking in homes, but some call it “misguided” and “government overreach.” Photo: TNS
“A lot of times managers don't want to be confrontational because it's just a policy or it's written in the lease and[tenants]know they're not going to be evicted for smoking,” Blackburn said. “So when I saw this, I thought, let's at least give managers a recourse.”
But some worry the law will be an unnecessary burden on property owners.
The city says police and code enforcement officers will not enforce the law, citing limited resources, and instead allows landlords and other tenants to take legal action against violators.
Councilwoman Melanie Burkholder, the lone vote against the smoking ban, said local police shouldn't be dictating to residents whether they can smoke in their homes.
“It feels a little bit out of place,” she said during the 2023 meeting.
Will Creegan, chairman of Southwest Equity Partners, a San Diego County-based property management company, put it more bluntly in a letter to city officials this month: “You pass an ordinance and then tell property managers, 'We need to enforce this.' Good luck. This is a clear example of an abuse of government power.”
The law is scheduled to come into effect in January.
