Agoura should ban secondhand smoke

Recently, the city of Belmont, Calif., passed a landmark ordinance regulating secondhand smoke inside most apartments and condominiums.

As a resident of Agoura Hills, I am encouraged that cities like this are paving the way for nonsmokers like me to be able to breathe air in their own home that is untainted by the foul smelling, deadly and noxious fumes from another person's decision to light up a cigarette.

As a condo owner, I can say from personal experience that when my neighbor sits out on his patio and lights up yet another cigarette, it makes the air inside my home absolutely intolerable in more ways that one. I lose my right to breathe the fresh air. I lose my right to breathe healthy air. My husband, who has asthma, suffers even further.

I can no longer simply open my windows without worrying that at any moment the smell of a cigarette is going to come into my home. I'm sure many other nonsmokers who live in close proximity to a neighbor, such as those who live in condos and apartments, feel the same way. The smell of their neighbor's smoke wafting into their home is a deadly nightmare.

In 1995, California became the first state to enact a workplace smoking ban, which took full effect in 1998 by extending to bars and restaurants. Lately, cities in California such as Calabasas, and now Belmont, have also passed laws that limit and ban smoking in certain situations that can only benefit their residents.

This is a movement I see gathering pace and momentum as time goes on, and I believe that other cities in this state, and perhaps even this nation, will eventually follow.

I would truly love to see the city of Agoura Hills getting involved. As one of the most beautiful and unique cities in Southern California, the mission statement of this city tells me that this city wants what's best for its citizens and their lives.

Agoura Hills should consider aligning itself with the other front runner cities that have already fought for the health and comfort of their residents by setting limitations that ban smoking within the close-quarter communities of condos and apartments.
Janise Carey
Agoura Hills