1,600 smoke-free apartments listed in statewide directory

    Amy Olfene, project coordinator for the Smoke-Free Housing Coalition, announced recently that 1,631 housing units had been registered on the Coalition’s Web site and the site had received over 41,000 hits in August alone.  
    The Smoke-Free Housing Coalition, funded in part by Maine’s share of the national tobacco settlement, the Fund for a Healthy Maine, was created in response to the many requests for information that The Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine and local Healthy Maine Partnerships had been receiving from landlords and tenants regarding smoke-free housing policies.  
    The Coalition created an informational Web site, www.smokefreeforme.org, which includes a place for landlords to register their smoke-free rentals and an easy search mechanism for tenants.
    A media campaign advertising the registry on the radio, Web sites, posters, mailings and through e-mail began on Aug. 13 and runs through October.
    Currently, the list includes rental listings in the communities of Presque Isle, Caribou and Houlton.
    The Smoke-Free Housing Coalition of Maine is comprised of over 50 public health advocates, tenants, landlords, property managers and environmental health professionals. Their mission, through education, advocacy and policy change, is to reduce the number of multi-unit residents who are involuntarily exposed to secondhand smoke. They have been working with housing authorities, private landlords, developments and tenants since 2004.  
    Every day in Maine, one non-smoker dies from exposure to secondhand smoke.
    Secondhand smoke causes or worsens respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia and bronchitis, especially in infants, children and older persons. Secondhand smoke is a cause of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and middle ear infections in children.
    Secondhand smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds – more than 50 of which are substances known to cause cancer in humans or animals.
    There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
    Secondhand smoke cannot be controlled by ventilation or air cleaning. The only solution to this problem is to make buildings smoke-free.  
    When a smoking tenant moves out, costly cleaning and repairs (totaling $500-$1,600) are necessary to prepare the unit for the next tenant. Also, fire insurance can be less expensive for non-smoking units.
    Smoking materials are the leading cause of home and total fire deaths in the United States. Smokers put themselves and their neighbors at risk.
    In Maine, at least 30 percent of fatal fires are related to tobacco products.