SAN FRANCISCO — City officials in San Francisco have banned all tobacco smoking inside apartments, citing concerns about secondhand smoke.
If you concluded that marijuana was included in the ban, you’d be wrong. Lighting up a joint and smoking pot is exempt from the new law, AP reported.
The Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 Tuesday to approve the ordinance making San Francisco the largest city in the country to ban tobacco smoking inside apartments, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The original proposal sought to ban residents from smoking marijuana in their apartments, but supervisors voted to exclude marijuana after cannabis activists said the law would take away their only legal place to smoke. It’s illegal under state law to smoke cannabis in public places, although state law is widely disregarded in San Francisco.
“Unlike tobacco smokers who could still leave their apartments to step out to the curb or smoke in other permitted outdoor smoking areas, cannabis users would have no such legal alternatives,” said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who wrote the amendment to exempt cannabis.
You might say this is a smoke screen since former defense attorney, and current DA Chase Boudin has instructed his office to ignore prosecuting all manner of minor offenses, Law Officer reported. However, it clearly demonstrates the powerful lobby marijuana users have in the city.
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Update: An ordinance to ban cigarette smoking in San Francisco apartments failed to get a second vote from supervisors Tuesday, meaning the proposal is dead for now, KTLA reported.
