Toronto-area family says weed smell has turned new home into ‘place of nightmares’

The 2018 legalization of cannabis for recreational use in Canada has had far-reaching economic and societal impacts, but also triggered growing complaints from residents of condos and apartments struggling with the wafting scent of this now-legal substance.

A family who recently moved into a condo building in Oakville took to Reddit over the strong odour of weed smoke in their new residence, saying, “a new development that looked like the house of our dreams but has quickly turned to be the place of nightmares.”

The family moved into 345 Wheat Boom Drive in Oakville, but say that their enjoyment of this new home has been constantly challenged by a fellow building resident using the stairwell as their own personal smoking lounge.

“As most condos, this is a non-smoking condo, but since before we moved in, there has [been] an individual smoking marijuana in the stairway every day and night,” the post reads.

“The level of smoking is beyond what can be described: the entire upper floors are completely choked out.”

Marijuana smoking is so bad, it wakes us up every night

byu/Oakvillage_residents inoakville

The Redditor claimed that the smell is so strong that it even interferes with other building residents’ sleep.

“To give a sense of the severity: the smell regularly wakes us up during [the] night because it is so strong and overwhelming. Some of our neigboors [sic] have kids and they lose morning classes because the smell keeps them awake.”

The post goes on to explain that the individual smoking in the stairwell has been identified to management but claims that they refuse to address the complaints — which they say have been ongoing for months and from several different residents of the condo building.

“Even small effort to get to the root of the problem like putting cameras in the stairway having security on site is not considered.”

The Redditor then appeals for advice from the masses, saying, “We really don’t know what to do to stop the smoking since the management doesn’t care to do anything. Any advice would be appreciated.”

Several users chimed in with advice, including paperwork and tips to get management more involved in the matter.

With the user suggesting that management has been unwilling to help, some offered suggestions on how to just cut out the middleman and keep the smoke smell out.

“When I lived in a condo, I had a neighbor that smoked in his unit and it was the same situation. Condo management did absolutely nothing either,” reads one response.

“So I picked up some foam door/window seal and put all around the door frame and then also keep a rolled up towel at the base of the door and it made a huge difference to prevent airflow from the hall into the unit and dramatically reduced the smell in my unit.

It’s an issue that has been popping up in greater frequency since legalization, forcing condo boards to scramble in 2018 to enact stringent rules limiting or banning consumption in condominium and apartment buildings.

While it can be a difficult issue to combat when tenants or owners smoke cannabis in their own units, the brazen stairwell smoking alleged by these residents is the type of activity one would reasonably expect management to clamp down on.