Help! Cannabis smell in toddlers room from neighbour! Post Reply

[Familycompleted]

I don't know what to do about this
It's quite obvious that the guy is smoking joints in his bedroom which is adjacent to our sons bedroom. I used to notice it now and then in the past but now it's really noticeable and I don't know what to do -

1) he is in his own home so surely has the right to smoke if he wants to
2) he isn't very nice - so not sure how to approach the problem anyway. His mom is quite nice and I believe it's her "council house" that he (probably in his 30s and with his teenage son whom I am sure is of questionable character given the type of people he seems to be hanging out with)
3) is this going to have health implications to our son?
4) should we just move him to the next room (quite a hassle since we've really set it up already)?

Any ideas/advice please???

[csml]

Tricky one, I'd probably speak to his mum when you next bump into her and say that you ve noticed the smell of smoke coming into your sons room, and that obviously it's none of your business what he does in his own home, but you're a bit worried that it might affect your son.
This should allow the message to get back that you're not going to grass him up and are just trying to ensure your child doesn't get stoned - although to be honest I wouldn't have thought it would affect him.

[klw]

We had a problem like this when I was heavily pregnant, but was exacerbated by extremely unpleasant antisocial behaviour- loud music at 3 am every night, constant 'visitors' and parties throughout the night. When I (with my huge bump) went to ask if they could be a bit more considerate, I heard lots of expletives as I walked back to our house next door.

I'm afraid to say we moved out (we were renting) as I couldn't imagine dealing with it all with a baby and didn't want her to be exposed to the very strong canabis stench throughout our whole house. It was very difficult as we'd only just moved in and unpacked and cost us a lot of money, but it was the cowards way out... I do hope your neighbours are more reasonable with you. Good luck and I hope you get it sorted out.

[Familycompleted]

Thanks for the replies so far. Luckily the smell seems to be concentrated in the one room so maybe the worst case for is would be to change rooms.... Easier than moving for sure! Will prob also check if there are any rules about this for Wandsworth - before I knock on the door and have a little chat with the mom who seems most reasonable. So far we have only had 2 incidences of loud music in 2 years so it could have been much worse I suppose!

[Pop]

It might be worth checking the seal on your son's bedroom window and seeing if there's anything you can do to prevent/reduce the smoke getting in. You can get various stick on strips from places like B&Q. I would have thought it's more likely coming through there than the wall. Doesn't help in summer when you want the window open, but might improve things over winter.

[Familycompleted]

The smell doesn't come through the window unfortunately as its a new double glazed one and I have even opened it to check - and I think it's the old Victorian floor boards near the chimney stack/fireplace which we have sealed off so was considering maybe putting down new ones which would mean a better seal? Or is this path of "smell diffusion" unlikely?

[papinian]

In terms of smell travelling, is it possible that your fireplace and the fireplace in the adjacent property share a common chimney stack. This is not uncommon in Victorian terraced properties. The smoke is going up the chimney on the neighbour's side, going across and coming back down the chimney on your side. If your fireplace is open and you do not use it, it may be worth putting an inflatable balloon up the chimney to block it off. These are easy to put on/off and only cost about £20. If you PM me I can give you details of where we got ours from (online).

I have a lot of sympathy for you.

[Familycompleted]

Thanks for the advise! The chimney is already blocked off but since its not "sealed" along the brick maybe thats how its seeping through especially where the floor boards are "incomplete". My builder thinks I should report to the council as its illegal to consume cannabis (I thought it was just dealing that was illegal but what do I know!)...but not sure if that will help. Maybe I should just man up and just walk over and ask them nicely if they can smoke elsewhere...and just say "smell of smoke" in general....?

[Pop]

Sounds like you've thought of everything I would have done. Insulation under the floor boards or a very good underlay under your carpet and carpet over the old hearth right up to the back of the fireplace might help.
Best of luck. What a horrid thing to be having to deal with.

[Sherlika]

Please, call the police on number 101 and the anti-social behaviour team. The latter will need to come to your house and see of you can really smell in your kids bedroom. If they agree, they will send them letters and they can be evicted. It does work.

Do not put up with this. Cannabis has a strong smell and is illegal. He has to smoke somewhere else.

[Familycompleted]

Oh! Had no idea we can call police/anti social behaviour for this kind of thing.... Will try the latter at least and see what they say. Thanks!!

[ellesmum]

I really feel for you. We went through exactly the same thing a few years ago and it made our lives a nightmare. Our little girl was a toddler at the time, and the woman who lived downstairs at the time was a heavy smoker, and although it started off as just "normal" smoke (which sometimes caused a haze in our living room and kitchen), we started getting an increasingly strong cannabis smell coming through. We started off by just mentioning to her that we had a problem with smoke coming through, in the hope that she would realise that we had noticed the smell, but it made no difference. As far as she was concerned, she owned her house and could do what she liked in it. Which is fair enough, except that what she was doing didn't stay in her house! The constant smell of it made me feel sick, and on one memorable occasion, my daughter was running around the house, arms waving, acting as though she was high. That was the last straw. I called in Environmental Health at Wandsworth council and the local police, who were both very helpful. They took the complaint seriously, especially because a child's health was involved. For us, unfortunately, the problem was never fully resolved, and, as we were renting, we just moved out. However, if we had stayed and continued fighting it, I don't doubt that between Environmental Health and the police, they would have got it sorted out. If she had been Housing Association, it would have been dealt with even quicker, because we could have complained to them, too.
Don't feel guilty about kicking up a stink. It's your child's health at stake, and the nasty, second hand chemicals do have an effect! Good luck x

[PipG]

I really feel for you. Not only does smoke smell awful, it's a health worry. We had some downstairs neighbours who moved in and started smoking heavily and it came up through the floorboards in to our flat, it stank and really stressed me out. I went down there and asked nicely if they could stop. I told them that I was asthmatic and pregnant (one was true) and it was really causing me problems. They just about stopped/smoked outside which was a relief. We also put some carpet/rugs down in the rooms with floorboard which helped.

Good luck. Neighbours can be a really difficult.

[Mayamoo]

I have had a similar problem in the past with neighbours but on both occasions the issue was amicably resolved. In a nutshell I sought advice from my brother-in-law who rather conveniently was a senior detecive at Scotland Yard. After leaving a few notes in our communal hallway (we have an apartment in a large house) my inclination was to phone the police - he advised against this and suggested that rather than using the 'hammer to a nut' approach that I leave a polite letter in the communal area highlighting something along the lines of (a) the problem - smoke permeating into our home (B) why is was causing problems - smell / potential affect to health etc (c) suggest a solution (i.e. if they wish to smokem - go outside away from the property (d) next steps if the problem continues (ie will call the police). In our case it worked - I came home the same night and basically every property owner in the house had signed the letter (it turned into a mini petition!) and the person involved - whose new partner was the smoker - took heed. I understand that your situation is slightly different but it may be worth consiudering writing a letter (take a copy of it) in the first instance to make them aware of the problem it is causing you etc. If that fails phoning up the antisocial unit (may have the name wrong!) sounds like a great idea!

[Familycompleted]

Aw thank you all so very much! I will go speak with then this afternoon - hopefully the mom at least will be really helpful. If that doesn't work then I will ask the council what to do. At least that way I would feel I have been fair!

Will keep you all posted