Problem/Objective: Many tobacco control advocates receive complaints from residents of multi-unit housing who are suffering from exposure to drifting secondhand smoke. Many times the public health advocate and the tenant are not aware of the legal options that are available to help resolve this problem. This presentation is designed for government attorneys, public health department staff, and community based organization staff.

Methods: Existing landlord/tenant laws and disability laws may provide tenants with the legal means to resolve the problem of exposure to drifting secondhand smoke. If other approaches have failed, such as trying to reach an agreement with the neighbor who smokes or the landlord, then it might be time to explore legal options.

Results: If the tenant is considered disabled under state or federal law and exposure to secondhand smoke aggravates the person's disability, then there might be additional legal protections the tenant could invoke. Even if a tenant is not considered disabled under the law, there are still a number of legal claims that a suffering tenant could bring against either the smoking tenant or the landlord through a lawsuit. These types of lawsuits are becoming more common throughout the country, and aggrieved tenants are winning their cases. The pro's and con's of these various legal theories are explored, real world examples are given, and available resources for tenants, landlords, and tobacco control advocates are identified.

Conclusions: Tobacco control advocates will learn how to harness existing laws to help residents suffering from exposure to drifting secondhand smoke.