Committee adopts amendments and sends San Francisco smoke‑free multiunit housing ordinance to full Board

The Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee on Nov. 12 adopted amendments to an ordinance that would prohibit smoking inside private dwelling units in multiunit housing buildings of three or more units and then forwarded the measure to the full Board of Supervisors without a committee recommendation.

Board President Norman Yee, the ordinance’s lead sponsor, told the committee the change would extend residents’ right to breathe smoke‑free air in their homes, and he summarized three clarifying amendments: maintain the existing common‑area prohibition for two‑unit buildings while applying the new rule to buildings with three or more units; explicitly cover housing used to provide childcare; and include an exception for medical cannabis use in dwelling units. Yee also said the ordinance will specify that violations are not grounds for eviction and that landlords are not required to change existing tenancy terms to comply.

Department of Public Health staff presented data on tobacco, e‑cigarette aerosol and cannabis smoke, noting racial and income disparities in exposure and health outcomes. Marina Spigel, acting community engagement lead for the Tobacco Free Project, said the agency’s evidence shows that secondhand cigarette, e‑cigarette aerosol and cannabis smoke all pose health risks, that ventilation and air filtration do not reliably eliminate exposure, and that "there is no risk free level of secondhand smoke." DPH staff also said enforcement language as written targets the person who is violating the rule and that administrative penalties are included in the ordinance; they said operational details on enforcement would need to be further developed.

The committee then heard more than an hour of public comment. Dozens of callers — including public‑health groups and tenants — urged the committee to remove the proposed medical‑cannabis exemption, saying smoked cannabis carries many of the same airborne harms as tobacco and that low‑income residents and communities of color are disproportionately affected by drifting smoke. A smaller set of callers urged the committee to preserve an exemption or accommodation for people who use smoked cannabis for medical reasons and who cannot easily go outside to consume it.

Member Walton moved to accept the sponsor’s amendments and the committee voted 3‑0 (Stephanie, Walton, Mandelmann) to adopt them. The panel then voted 3‑0 to forward the ordinance, as amended, to the full Board of Supervisors without recommendation. The ordinance directs the Department of Public Health to run a public information campaign and includes specifications about signage, disclosure by owners and managers, and administrative penalties; the committee did not set a final enforcement protocol at this meeting.

The full Board will consider the ordinance at a future meeting.