Learning Objectives: Describe renters' preferences for smoking policies in apartment buildings and some possible next steps in promoting tobacco use restrictions in this setting.
Abstract: Objective. This study assessed renters’ preferences for official smoking policies in their buildings and their practices concerning restricting tobacco smoking in their apartments.
Design. Renters (n=301) living in large apartment complexes in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota, completed a mail survey.
Main Outcome Measures. The survey asked about the official smoking policies in place in their apartment buildings, their own policies about smoking in their apartments, whether they had smelled tobacco smoke coming into their apartments from hallways or windows, and, if so, what they had done about it.
Results. The majority of respondents (76%) either preferred that their building be smoke-free or had no preference. Most renters (60%) reported no-smoking policies in their own apartments and another significant proportion (23%) restricted smoking to certain areas or occasions or allowed only certain persons to smoke in their apartments. 75% thought that enforcing a smoke-free policy for guests would not be difficult. 46% had smelled smoke that had come in from outside their apartments; most of these reported being bothered by it. However, very few complained to the building owner or manager (13.6%) or to the smoker (5.6%).
Conclusions. The majority of subjects preferred that their buildings be smoke-free or did not care. A failure to report problems to apartment managers might be an impediment to instituting smoke-free policies in apartment buildings. The considerable disagreement among residents within apartment complexes about the current official smoking policy in their buildings suggests that policies are lacking or are not well communicated.
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