A District of Columbia woman who went to court to sue her neighbor and DC for the formidable stench of marijuana invading her home won her case last week.
DC Superior Court Judge Ebony Scott ruled in favor of plaintiff Josefa Ippolito-Shepherd, who claimed in a lawsuit that the overwhelming odor of pot was harming her health. Judge Scott’s ruling puts a new precedent in place, as he banned Ms. Ippolito-Shepherd’s neighbor from smoking marijuana inside his home plus within 25 feet of Ms. Ippolito-Shepherd.
Judge Scott said that though the neighbor, Thomas Cackett, does have a license to buy and smoke marijuana legally, he “does not possess a license to disrupt the full use and enjoyment of one’s land.”
Ms. Ippolito-Shepard, 76, had not sued over the legality of marijuana, which became legal in 2015. Instead, she filed her suit due to the pungent odor wafting into her apartment from a neighbor. Ms. Ippolito-Shepard has lived in her apartment for over thirty years and requested that D.C. make smoking illegal in multi-unit buildings because of its pungent smell and impact upon her living space, including her lungs, teeth, furniture, clothing, and hair, among other things.
Her lawsuit asked the court to make smoking marijuana illegal in multi-residence dwellings.
In court papers, the fed-up plaintiff said she was sick of the pot smells that “invaded her home.” The elderly woman said in court documents that the pervasive smell of pot has made her feel sick, hurt her lungs, and that “I have the right to breathe fresh air in my home.”
“I'm not talking about if I go to someone else's house or a place people go to smoke pot,” the plaintiff said in court documents. “They have the freedom to do whatever. I just do not want to be invaded in my own home.”
What makes this case unique is that no marijuana is smoked in the plaintiff’s home, but instead, in another resident’s home. Ms. Ippolito-Shepard’s neighbor, Cackett, 73, up until this ruling, was within his legal rights to smoke marijuana, since it’s legal in DC. He also said during the trial that he uses his legal weed for his pain and to help him sleep at night.
In court he said that he does not “smoke all day and all night as the plaintiff alleges. I am not Snoop Dogg.”
Unlike nuisance complaints, usually centering on strong cooking smells, Ms. Ippolito-Shepard’s suit set a new legal precedent in winning her case.
Similar legal cases across the US apply to Ms. Ippolito-Shepard’s allegations.
In 1976, an employee in a New Jersey office sued her employers for allowing coworkers to smoke at their desks, which impacted her health. The New Jersey Superior Court agreed and ruled in her favor.
Although the product of tobacco is indeed different than pot, it’s the smell and harm caused by smoke that is similar enough to this case, since smoke of any kind, including tobacco, marijuana and even forest fire smoke, has been scientifically proven to be dangerous to inhale.
The American Lung Association warns of the health consequences of inhaling any smoke, including marijuana. “Smoke is harmful to lung health. Whether from burning wood, tobacco or marijuana, toxins and carcinogens are released from the combustion of materials,” writes the association, citing numerous research studies. “Smoke from marijuana combustion has been shown to contain many of the same toxins, irritants and carcinogens as tobacco smoke.”
Secondhand smoke of any kind can lead to lung cancer. People of all ages, including babies, children and adults, can inhale cancerous toxins from pot smoke, just like they would if it were tobacco smoke.
“It’s a big win from the public health perspective because it’s setting a precedent for all the people that are in similar situations,” Ippolito-Shepherd, who represented herself in the case, said after the positive ruling.
As Judge Scott wrote in her decision, even medical marijuana smoke can be dangerous for your health. “Indeed, the public interest is best served by eliminating the smoking nuisance and the toxins that it deposits into the air, toxins that involuntary smokers have no choice to inhale,” said Judge Scott in her decision.
