Pot smoking IS smoking...guest disagrees?

Answered!
Laura2592
Level 10
Frederick, MD

Pot smoking IS smoking...guest disagrees?

We have a no smoking policy at our cottage.

 

Marijuana is legal in our state and certainly permissible for medical use with an RX. A recent guest inquiry stated that they planned to smoke pot  during their stay as an FYI.  We reminded them of no smoking in our house rules. The guest responded that because it was medically used and not a cigarette it was an exception to the "no smoking" rule inside: that it was unreasonable for a host to request that a guest smoke medical marjuana outside on a cold day. And further, we have a fireplace, so why do we care about a smoky smell? 

 

I was not expecting this sort of push back and think there are other red flags with this guest which will preclude my approval but are they correct on any of these points?

1 Best Answer
Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

Update your rules to include no vaping or smoking of marijuana.  The issue is impact to the listing if it is legal in your area.

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22 Replies 22

@Laura2592   He/she is not correct, in my opinion. Having a medical need doesn't magically turn cannabis into an odorless substance. And moreover, nearly every licensed dispensary sells smokeless products such as THC edibles,  so it's absurd to suggest that a medical condition or disability would make smoking a necessity. 

 

No host should ever accept a guest who expresses an intention to flout their rules, no matter how creative their reasoning for doing so is. The point about the fireplace is a funny one, but it still doesn't hold up; unlike the rest of your house, the fireplace has a flue to convey smoke outward. You can point out that this is a helpful feature but unfortunately the fireplace is too small to fit a smoking guest.

Michelle53
Level 10
Chicago, IL

@Laura2592  I'm somewhat new to the whole pot thing, since Illinois just legalized it as of January 1st.   As far as I am aware, Airbnb rules as relate to "no smoking" include tobacco, vaping devices and marijuana.  I know I saw that somewhere. 

 

Chicago offers locations where people are able to go and smoke marijuana. 

 

The rules allow smoking in back yards, for example. It would not be acceptable for someone to smoke "visibly" i.e. outside my house in the front yard, for example, medical or otherwise. 

 

Since my back yard is not available to guests, especially for smoking marijuana, if I found myself in your situation,  I'd have to politely decline the guest. 

@Michelle53  One could be forgiven for impolitely declining guests who approach you with rude and disrespectful demands 🙂

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

What the?! Oh no, please don't tell me this is the future!

Rachel0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Laura2592  If they are already telling you that they are "planning" on breaking one of your house rules you can be pretty sure that once they arrive they will break plenty more.  I don't know anything about the legal issues of where you are allowed to smoke marijuana in USA as we don't have the same issues here, but I would follow @Anonymous 's advice and tell them as impolitely as you like to shove off and  take their spliffs  with them.

Danielle476
Level 10
Toronto, Canada

Marijuana is legal in Canada, and I don't allow it either.  Technically speaking, cigarettes are 'legal' too - it doesn't mean it can be smoked in any environment.  Legality does not equal freedom to consume anywhere.

 

Go with your gut - someone who already openly takes issue with your stated rules likely won't respect them.  I'd avoid them!

Kelly149
Level 10
Austin, TX

This reminds me of all the “oh no, this isn’t a party, these are just 10 of my friends here to eat, drink and play cards. They aren’t guests because we won’t be sleeping.”

 

I’d be careful with what you say bc that logic is either utterly stupid or someone trying to bait you into a discrimination lawsuit. But no way would I hand over my house to that guy. 

*I had a friend long ago who would sit about half in the fireplace to smoke, exhaling up into the opening bc then the flue would take the smoke away. Not the most relaxing plan but people are odd. 

@Kelly149 semantics are such a joy, aren't they?

 

No danger of my approving this guest. No reviews so inquiry only. 

Stacey147
Level 9
Surprise, AZ

One only needs up the definition of "smoking" to refute it with him  🙂 

 

https://definitions.uslegal.com/s/smoking/

 

"Smoking is the inhaling or tasting of smoke produced by burning substances."

-Stacey

I know the medicinal use is a thing for your own state/country, so I won't get involved there other than there are many ways to take cannabis without smoking it, including medicinal. some of my family are dutch lol.

 

If it burns, it's smoking. It is against your rules.  Non smoking is non smoking. How hard can they make it out to be?

I'd definitely decline the guest.

If you think the residual smell of tobacco smoking is bad for the next guest who doesn't smoke, the lingering smell of weed is much worse to get rid of.

 

Personally we have no objection to anybody smoking anything at all, but *outside*.  Indoors is non smoking, period.

 

It would be nice if they shared sometimes 😉

@Kevin1322   I would think that in a place where pot is legal it's OK to say "you are welcome to enjoy edibles and other smokeless cannabis products indoors, but no smoking or vaping of any substance is permitted inside. And, sharing is caring..."

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Laura2592 

I was just responding to a very similar question on an older thread.

I am not aware that you can refuse a guest simply on the grounds they are smokers. You can set rules you expect them to adhere too but, you can't prevent them from booking.  It contravenes Airbnb's anti discrimination policy. You can't refuse the elderly because they can't handle a flight of steps, you can only 'advise' them of the listings description. You can't refuse a disabled request, you have to point out again what you offer, but the final decision in these cases rests with the guest, not the host! 

 

This how I have got around this issue. My listed cottage is a non smoking facility......

 

Cigarette smoke detector.png

 

If someone would say to me they have a reason to enable them to introduce an airborne substance into my property, I would simply respond and say the property physically won't allow it, as well as a fire alarm, it has an inbuilt cigarette smoke detector, it will trigger an alarm and an alert will come through to my phone!

Sorry, I can't do anything about it you will have to search somewhere else!

 

Cheers......Rob

 

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

@Robin4 Interesting. An ex-host near me with wonderful reviews re his exquisitely decorated house & wonderful hosting style used to be VERY explicit that he would not host smokers - period, cos even if they only smoked outside, their bodies would constantly exude chemicals that would contaminate his bedding. (I don't know if he was banned for this, I know he also stated he would not host anyone without photo or biography, so maybe he banned himself when the profile pics went...?) So IS it discrimination to say 'No Smokers'? They CHOOSE to exude noxious sweat; not the same as a health issue/disability?

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Helen350 

Being a mechanical services contractor in my working life Helen, my cottage has a ducted Hepa air filtration system which continually cleans up the cottage air and, although you are 100% correct, a smoker brings that smell with them, not just their bodies but their possessions as well, the filtration system easily copes with that, removing it before it contaminates our furnishing. We all know what it is like to find yourself in an elevator with someone who has just extinguished a cigarette.....it is just a dreadful smell. In fact that smell is worse that the smell of the actual cigarette smoke! But we have to be realistic, it's an addiction and a smoker is going to find some way of lighting up, no matter where they are.

 

I have no problem with them smoking outside, I have set up an under cover area and equipped it with an ashtray and a container of non offensive breath freshener which I instruct them to use before re-entering the cottage, and this seems to work ok Helen. I find none of them go out of their way to be malicious, they appreciate smoking is their issue and if you can demonstrate to them that you are considering their smoking issue, they will comply!

 

If we tell a smoker we don't allow them to smoke, we are discriminating against them and they could feel they have a right to complain. If we nicely offer them a physical reason why we simply can't accept them if they smoke because it will trigger an alarm, they will accept that and look elsewhere. They don't regard that as discrimination!

Apart from Amazon, cigarette alarms are available in the UK via and English supplier.....

cigarette smoke detector 2.png

 

Even if it was a dummy one on the ceiling with a no smoking symbol on it, the deterrent factor would be great enough to ensure your space remained smoke free. They would not want to run the risk of putting it to the test!

If anyone feels strongly enough about this smoking business it is definitely worth pursuing!

 

Cheers......Rob