Finland: New Legislative Crackdown on Balcony Smoking  

Source from:  YLE24 (fi)  10/31/2013

New limitations on smoking on private apartments' balconies are on the way. The new rules are set to come into force in April 2014, as part of new health protection legislation. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is also looking at plans for a new tobacco law.

The proposal has been circulated for comment, and passive smoking has been raised as an issue. As part of the legislation, current official guidelines on housing and health will be added to the statute books.

"The idea of this statute is to insert a clause on the environmental effect of tobacco smoke, saying that residential properties should not be subject to the smell of tobacco smoke and to limit nicotine emissions," explained Vesa Pekkola of the ministry.

Health inspectors to make sniff-checks?

Balcony smoking would become very difficult under the proposals. Previous court cases over the practice have fallen down as sensory evidence of smoking—that is, the smell of smoke—was not regarded as sufficient to prove health damage. The new law would shift that burden of proof to enable neighbours to prevent even the smell from reaching their homes.

Municipalities fear that their health inspectors could face a heavy workload if they are called out to sniff out smokers on behalf of residents seeking official proof of the miscreants' puffing.

"Smoking is often a fleeting activity, so how can we be sure of discovering the smell of smoke?" asked Hannu Kirjavainen, head of Environmental Health at Kuopio City Council. "It could be really difficult for an inspector to observe it right there and then. The fear is that we could be forced to visit many times to inspect the same cases."

New tobacco law

A new tobacco law is also on the health ministry's agenda. At present smoking is banned in common areas of residential buildings, but the law takes no position on balcony smoking.

The ministry's goal in that proposal would be to get a harm clause inserted so that preventing balcony smoking would not depend on proving damage to health. A full ban is not on the cards.

"In the tobacco law there is a proposal to tighten restrictions on balcony smoking," says Pekkola. "So if balcony smoking is restricted by the tobacco law, then there would be no need to prove damage to health, just to enforce the tobacco law more rigorously."

Striking a balance

Building managers have to take the rights of smokers into account when setting the ground rules. In the eastern town of Kuopio, the Niiralan Kulma social housing company sends about a hundred warnings a year to tenants accused of smoking in places they shouldn't.

"I can honestly say that this is a lot of work, because they both have rights," says Niiralan Kulma's head of customer services Päivi Vanninen.

The firm has decided to offer alternatives to everyone. Smokers can live in buildings where their habit is allowed, while non-smokers can move to those places where it's completely forbidden.

"Now it is apparent that quite a few smokers want to live in smoke-free buildings," says Vanninen. "So it doesn't necessarily mean that when they move to a smoke-free building they stop smoking." Enditem