What Can Be Done About Marijuana Smoke Inundating My Condo From The Suite Below?
We own a condo covered under the BC Condominium Act. The suite below is owned by a single mother with a son about 18 years old. He and his friends are the “problem” people in the building. When we first moved in we could not have use our balcony or have open windows due to the amount of pot smoking on their porch. Once we pointed out to council that this is common property, they began fining them and they moved the smoking inside.
The mother is away long term, and the 18 year old is living alone. He and his friends are smoking so much that our sealed apartment reeks and we ourselves are getting stoned.
My wife is severely affected health-wise by the smoke, ending up in bed often. I myself get bloodshot eyes, a headache and find myself overeating. We are both grouchy when it is occurring.
It seems this would qualify as a nuisance under tort law, but I cannot afford a lawyer and a court case. Talking does not work, and the police will not attend a pot smoke call.
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January 10th, 2010 at 11:25 am
i would try talking to them directly and asking them to refrain. i would also consider making a disturbing the peace call when they are smoking. say its music/domestic whatever but get the cops on the scene, (thats a slippery slope but something to consider). i might also consider asking the head honcho of the bldng association to come over and see for him/her-self how bad the problem is…finally you might even consider a cilvil suit of some kind…
could you contact the mother somehow? GL with it!
one other thing, pot is illegal right? the next time it’s going on down there, go down, bang on the door and raise hell with them to the extent that they get the message. they can’t call the cops, can they? see my point? get loud and get rude! tell em’ this is going to stop now! OR ELSE! maybe they will get the message since there is no legal remedy for them to use.
if you have talked to these kids, and the cops don’t care, and the punks have no respect for you and your wife, treat a punk like a punk! harass the hell out of them every time they light up. if you take a punch, well, the cops will come out then won’t they? fight fire with fire! it’s your home and you are in the right!
January 10th, 2010 at 11:51 am
can’t you go to the council again and complain of the smell in your apartment due to the history with the other tenant. he should not be allowed to remain there if he is the problem. i would definitely consult with a lawyer (free consultation) as this issue is now affecting your lifestyle and health, send your wife to a doctor to get this all documented. you might have a case against the neighbour (the mom) for allowing this to go on.
January 10th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
The police should take care of this and what is the reason they will not?
January 10th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Using my wife’s account to add brief details
- We have tried talking, the kid considers it his right to smoke pot and could care less about his neighbours
- Perhaps you do not know about the famous potency of BC bud. We definitely have a buzz, and when the cat starts howling in the bathtub, something is up. What I was also unable to make clear in the space provided is that it is penetrating that much because they are sitting in a Cheech and Chong type cloud from 10am till midnight.
- Council has no power, it is inside his own unit (owned, not rented)
- I am in BC, Canada; not the US. While growing pot is illegal; first offenders don’t even get jail time. Just smoking it at home is tolerated, police will not attend and will be very pissed off if you trick them into attending. They have attended for noise complaints, and that is when the kid made the statement that smoking pot is not illegal to a council member. The cop told him it was technically, but wouldn’t even get involved in the conversation until the kid really started being a jerk.
- Researching Canadian law, the only thing I can come up with is that it would be a nuisance that is interfering with enjoyment of my home. This means I could start a costly court case, which the kid would not care about as it mommy’s unit, not his.
Does anyone with knowledge of BC/Canadian law have input?
January 10th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
You have to motivate the police without them knowing they are being manipulated. You have to give the police a very good reason to be very unhappy with those kids. What makes your local cops very unhappy? Whatever it is use that and the pot smoking will stop.
January 10th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
While I can understand your not wanting to smell anything from someone else’s apartment, I do not believe you are getting stoned from this. The concentrations are very unlikely to be high enough to produce a noticeable effect.
Continue to complain to the landlord (council?). But if the apartment makes no stipulation about smoking, you might end up with a cigarette or cigar smoker, which I assure you, would be much worse.
January 10th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Call the police, but they may not want to do anything. You may get lucky and the kid could have a warrant or two out there! At the very least, give a call and get some hints.
You could get the strata council to issue fines, but this may or may not help stop the problem, as the mother and son may not care about fines and the council may not be inclined to push them to pay. Push this angle and volunteer to help enforce the fines.
You could also sue the mother and son in nuisance and hope to get a court order prohibiting this kind of activity and claiming damages. This claim would be based, in part, on your wife’s health. If you can get a doctor to do a report about your wife’s health being impacted by the smoke, it could help. You will need evidence of the smoke in your condo. I’m not sure how to do this, but testimony from other people in your condo when it gets bad would be a place to start. A judgment for a few thousand dollars, enforced by seizing and selling assets (car, stereo, sports equipment, etc.) and registering it against title to the condo (could get the bank to call the mortgage) may wake those bozos up, but don’t be too shocked if it doesn’t.
Good luck. Oh, if the son is a tenant, the strata can evict him.
January 10th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Check the Bylaws for a catch-all provision which prohibits nuisance activity. Often they will be phrased such that unreasonable noises, light, odor etc. are prohibited. Your Strata Council has a legal obligation to enforce the Bylaws through fines or otherwise. I would keep a detailed log of when you experience the problem, and attend the Strata meetings and make it an issue. If you have a neighbor or neighbors who will back you up, so much the better.