Tougher Smoking Rules – Nuts! [OPINION]

Let me start off by saying I don't smoke and my father died of lung cancer after smoking cigarettes for more than 40 years.  With that being said you might assume I am for any law that prohibits smoking in public and you would be right.

What I can't believe is a new ordinance passed in San Rafael, California that will prohibit smoking in any residence with a shared wall.  So if you own a condo with a shared wall with another condo you will not be allowed to smoke....in your own home!  Whether you own a condo, rent a condo or a duplex you will not be allowed to smoke in your domicile.  That is insane!

There is no scientific proof that cigarette or cigar smoke will infiltrate an adjoining space to the degree that it will cause harm to a human being.  The City Council in San Rafael says in addition to the health risks posed by adjacent wall smoke California property owners coughed up $18 million a year to clean apartments vacated by tenants who smoked.  The solution is to make smokers pay a premium that will cover the cost of cleaning when they move out of a rental property.

Being it is California I wonder if this 'no smoking' ban applies to marijuana whether it's recreational or medicinal?

What's next in California?  Non-drinking legislation maybe or non-red meat eating legislation?

I've lived in apartments and condos with adjoining walls and I never noticed tobacco smell drifting through the duct work but what drove be crazy was people standing on their balconies or front steps to smoke to keep the smell out of their homes.

I think San Rafael is taking things to the extreme and it makes me wonder if this is, pardon the pun, a smoke screen to cover other issues they can't handle.  That's just my opinion.