Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: smoking policy

[R Philip Dowds (rphilipdowds]

This is a tough one:  Servicing the health care needs of some residents may be 
seen as a threat or nuisance by others.  And it’s not just smoking.  What about 
service animals (like sight-assistive or hearing-assistive dogs), versus the 
phobias of people who don’t like animals, especially indoors?  What about 
people with breathing problems, who are intolerant of fumes and odors that 
sometimes occur in any building?

It may be that each case is a special case.  Is a possible solution that of 
allowing cannabis smoking *only* in private dwelling units?  This may or may 
not work, depending on (a) what sort of ventilation you have (or don’t have), 
and (b) the sensitivities of immediate abutters.  And if cannabis is OK, then 
why not nicotine?

One way to think about it is like this:  Yes, we all have health care needs 
that may vary over time, and Yes, the community will make reasonable efforts to 
respect those needs.  But cohousing is not designed as, or meant to be, a 
health care facility; there are limits to how much the “normal residential 
environment” of cohousing can or should accommodate the health challenges of 
others — particularly when the needs of one or two are a nuisance or threat for 
the majority.

As I said:  You may be forced to deal with these conflicts as special cases.  
It may be impossible to come up with a consistently applicable policy that all 
will regard as “fair". 
———————————
Thanks,
Philip Dowds
Cornerstone Cohousing
Cambridge, MA

PS:  Cornerstone has gone from “smoking only in your unit” to “no smoking on 
the property”.  This is working OK so far … but we know the medicinal cannabis 
challenge is out there, and we’ve not yet had to deal with it ...

> On Aug 16, 2025, at 9:40 PM, lisa pletka <lisampletka [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I live in an intentional community in California where we already have a
> strict smoking policy with no nicotine smoking allowed on campus. However,
> now with the legality and medical use of cannibis, we are trying to update
> our policy. This is proving to be contentious because some folks want to
> smoke/vape cannibis for health reasons, and others feel that their health
> is negatively affected by inhaling second-hand fumes. Have any of you out
> there come up with creative solutions to similar scenarios?
> 
> Many thanks,
> Lisa Pletka
> Santa Rosa Creek Commons
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://L.cohousing.org/info
> 
> 
>