San Francisco may ban smoking in multi-unit apartment buildings

Smoking in apartments and multi-unit housing may soon be snuffed out in San Francisco.

The City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors is looking at an ordinance that would change the health code to “prohibit smoking inside all private dwelling units in multi-unit housing complexes containing three or more units.”

Currently, the city prohibits smoking in enclosed common spaces of housing complexes like entryways, elevators, stairways and mailrooms, Caitlin Vejby, legislative assistant to Supervisor Norman Yee told McClatchy News on Thursday.

The new ordinance would extend those rules to smoking or vaping in rented units, Vejby said.

According to Vejby, about half of San Francisco’s population lives in multi-unit housing, so many people would be impacted by the change.

The ordinance was introduced Nov. 3, and it is expected to come to a vote before the full Board of Supervisors on Dec. 1.

If the board votes for the change, San Francisco would be among 63 cities and counties in California to have smoke-free multi-unit housing, Vejby said. San Francisco would apparently be the largest city in the country to adopt a smoke-free policy.

“The home environment is one of the most common places for secondhand smoke exposure,” Vejby said. “This risk is even greater for residents of multi-unit housing where residents are 3.5 times more likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke.”