Up in Smoke: Washington DC woman sues DC & neighbors over overwhelming pot smells in landmark case
A District of Columbia resident is fed up with the smell of marijuana smoke wafting into her apartment from a neighboring unit and is suing both the city and the neighbor. Josefa Ippolito-Shepard, 76, who has lived in her apartment for thirty years, is asking her hometown city to make smoking illegal in multi-unit buildings because it has “invaded her home.”
This lawsuit is the first such case in DC, where recreational pot became legal in 2015. Since this type of suit has never occurred before, there are no similar cases to guide the resolution of the dispute. Ms. Ippolito-Shepard is acting as her own counsel.
At a meeting of the DC City Council, council member Phil Mendelson said he sees no way to correct the problems the senior is experiencing except to make marijuana illegal again.
Ms. Ippolito-Shepard said in court papers that it’s made her life miserable, is ruining her life, and that the pot is harming her health since it’s hard to breathe and sleep. Her neighbor, Thomas Cackett, 73, is within his legal rights to smoke marijuana since it’s legal in DC.
Cackett and another resident of the multi-unit building, Angella Farserotu, disagree with the plaintiff and said it’s not their problem to solve the smells and smoke bothering Ippolito-Shepard.
Court documents request that the District of Columbia ban smoking in multi-unit buildings.
“I have the right to breathe fresh air in my home,” said Ippolito-Shepard in her suit.
She said that she is not protesting the pot itself, but instead the stench it leaves in her home, on her clothes, in her hair and in her lungs.
“I'm not talking about if I go to someone else's house or a place people go to smoke pot,” the plaintiff said. “They have the freedom to do whatever. I just do not want to be invaded in my own home.”
If compared to nuisance complaints, usually centering on strong cooking smells, Ms. Ippolito-Shepard’s suit may have legal precedents to help her win her case.
Despite this lawsuit being a new type of complaint, there are similar legal cases to consider that may apply to Ms. Ippolito-Shepard’s charges. Numerous prior legal cases offer a precedent that may support the plaintiff.
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 may be similar enough to use this 1976 precedent to help Ms. Ippolito-Shepard argue her case successfully.
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,” the report says. “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.
In other related marijuana legal actions, numerous cities in California are openly discussing passing laws to prohibit smoking inside multi-apartment dwellings.
But detractors are stopping such laws, mostly due to the argument that many ill people need medical marijuana, smoked in their homes, to ease their chronic pain.
This DC landmark lawsuit, no matter which way it goes, will create new precedents when the ruling occurs in the near future.
