OK to ask neighbor to smoke elsewhere

Dear Annie: Recently, new neighbors moved in next door. They seem nice. The problem is, the husband smokes on their porch, which is on the side of their house and only a few yards from ours. It is close enough that we can smell cigarette smoke in our bedrooms, which are all on that side of the house.

My husband is highly allergic to cigarette smoke. While we respect the neighbor’s right to smoke on his property, we don’t appreciate the secondhand smoke in our home. We do not use air conditioning and often leave our windows open. Since the husband comes home late and smokes after we are asleep, we have been closing our windows as soon as we go to bed, which makes for unpleasant nights. We also have to close the windows on weekends when he lights up.

We don’t want to create tension with the new neighbors, but we would like to be able to sleep with our windows open. Do we have a right to bring this up? And how can we handle it tactfully? – Stuffy in the Suburbs

Dear Stuffy: You can bring it up, but you can’t demand a specific result. Your neighbor is entitled to smoke on his own property. All you can do is close your windows or install a fan that will blow the smoke away. But it is OK to approach your neighbor and ask politely whether he’d be willing to smoke in front of his house, so you can sleep with your windows open.

Dear Readers: Today is Family Day (casafamilyday.org). Studies show that children who eat dinner with their parents have a reduced risk of substance abuse. Please try to make meals a family event.