Pregnant and Neighbors Chain-Smoke

[RandomSteph]

Hello there,
I am about 9 weeks pregnant. My neighbors (2 sets of them) one right to the side of me and the other right behind me, so basically all of the connecting walls in my apartment, are complete chain-smokers. It smells so strong in our apartment that you would think that we were smoking cigarettes inside of our apartment. First of all, I have asthma, and am also allergic to cigarette smoke, so this has made me get to the point where it's like I have the flu because my allergies and asthma are so bad every day. It also concerns me that the strength of the smell coming into my apartment is effecting my baby's development from what I've read about it all. My baby already has a chance of developing asthma just from hereditary reasons, and I fear this will make it ten times worse.
I live in Colorado and as far as I know there are no bans on indoor smoking. But, my lease isn't up for another 4 months, and my baby will already be 6 months at that point! I don't know what to do, as I really have no where else to stay and somehow I just don't see this being something that I could get out of my lease with if it's not banned or illegal.
Will charcoal filters actually take the toxins out of the air? Or just the smell? Does anyone have any information that would help or any advice to get rid of the toxins that are constantly in literally every single room in my apartment?
Please help! Any and all advice is welcome as I fear for my baby. I can handle and rough through the smoke despite how miserable it makes me from my asthma and allergies, but I fear the baby cannot!
Thank you so much

 

[crazylilth1ng]

I'm really sorry that I can't offer advice but wow, that must be awful there is nothing worse than cigarette smoke to those who don't smoke. Sadly I don't think there is anything you can do... I hope you figure out something though.

 

[KatO79]

My first though was you could try explaining to the neighbours that you're pregnant, how much you can smell the smoke and ask them if they'd be willing to smoke outside as much as possible? If you're lucky, they'll be considerate, if not they won't care and will keep puffing away Short of that and airing out as much as you can, there's probably not much else to be done as you can't make them stop smoking. But you'll still have the problem once baby is here so may be worth looking into finding another apartment now where there aren't so many smokers close to you which is tough but I'm sure it's possible.

I did find this on how to stop 2nd hand smoke from coming in, may be worth looking into these options: https://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Secondhand-Smoke-Coming-Into-Your-Apartment

 

[KylasBaby]

We are in a different area, but before we bought our house we were looking at apartments and I had concerns about people smoking in adjacent apartments. I was told in one place they're allowed to smoke inside as long as t doesn't disturb anyone else. If it does then they can't anymore. When smoke is coming into your home, a space you pay for, it's a serious issue. Does your building have anything like that? Might be worth contacting the building manager and asking.

 

[second.time]

Does your lease say anything about smoking? All the apartments I've ever lived in have been non-smoking. Some of my neighbors smoked, but always outside (on the balcony or porch, for example). If it against the lease, you could get the landlord on your side. Most landlords rent non-smoking apartments because frankly it's terrible to try to clean a place after people have smoked indoors for years. There may not be a ban on indoor smoking in your state but I'm pretty sure landlords get to decide on that policy themselves.

Talking to them might be helpful, though I know that can be intimidating. They may genuinely be unaware that their cigarette smoke is affecting you so badly. Smokers become desensitized to the odor, so they wouldn't notice as much.

If it's really weighing on you, you could mention the issue to the landlord or property owners and say that you're pregnant and that it's affecting your health. You could even ask for your doctor to give you a note. That should hopefully allow you to break the lease early, if you're living in an environment that lowers your quality of life. Not sure if it will work, but it could. I'm sorry you're dealing with this.

 

[DobbyForever]

Is there a landlord or HOA you could speak to? It may not be illegal, but if it is so bad to the point it is affecting your health I am sure there is something in the by laws that can help. Otherwise you may have to tough it out until you can move, maybe get an air filter you can plug in to filter the air in your place?