Amid Marijuana Legalization, a Civic Problem Lingers: That Smell

The pungent odor of cannabis has emerged as a quality-of-life issue from New York City to Amsterdam. Here’s how cities are dealing with it.

In what’s considered a nationwide first, a 76-year-old woman in Washington, DC’s Cleveland Park neighborhood sued the tenant who lived in a rental apartment adjoining her home, arguing that she was made ill by the smell of the smoke from the cannabis he was using. The civil suit, filed in 2020, eventually went to trial; the defendant, a 73-year-old restaurant manager, argued that smoking medically prescribed marijuana eased his pain and sleeplessness, and that he took only a few puffs each night. “I am not Snoop Dogg,” he said at trial.

But in June, a judge ordered the tenant to refrain from smoking pot not only in his own home, but also within 25 feet of her residence.

The case stands to be a landmark in the fast-evolving landscape of legal weed in US cities. Possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use has been permitted in the District since 2015; currently, 24 states have also decriminalized the drug to various degrees. But many jurisdictions, including DC, stipulate that weed cannot be smoked on public streets, sidewalks and parks. And apartment-dwelling smokers who follow the law and indulge in their own homes may find that the herb’s pungent side effects can lead to friction with nearby tenants. In the wake of the ongoing wave of cannabis legalization, a vexing question is wafting across the urban policy space: What do we do about the smell?