What do you do if you can't take the intense marijuana smell coming from your neighbour's home?
A tenant in a Longueuil condo says they don't know where to turn.
Jonathan Bastien and his wife are expecting a baby in a few months. They claim their pot-smoking neighbour has been lighting up more often since the legalization of recreational marijuana in October and the odours keep seeping into their home.
"We almost feel like we're hostages in our own home because of this," said Bastien who contacted yourstory@cjad.com.
"He is allowed to do as he wishes in his home but if it affects us negatively, especially when it's something that affects our health, we should have some kind of a recourse against that."
Bastien said his neigbour won't stop or make any compromises and that the board simply told them to seal their windows and doors which they've already done.
The condo board president told CJAD 800 they don't have special provisions for marijuana smoking since it is now legal but that they would look into it if they file an official complaint in writing.
There is legal recourse which can be long and costly.
"It would have to be determined, first of all, whether there is more than a tolerable level of odour and if it was objectively excessive, it would be a question of why that is," said defence lawyer Andrew Barbacki.
Consultant in rental board affairs Ted Wright said this may have to go before the rental board.
"If they can prove that the harmful effects or the nauseating factor of marijuana coming through the walls and spreading and it can cause a problem, I think they can be successful," said Wright.
Wright said health and expert analyses would still be needed as they would in Quebec Superior Court and they can be complicated and costly.
Bastien said such situations are ethically wrong.
"He's within his rights but at the same time, we're within our rights to breathe fresh air in our home so which right precedes the other, I don't know," said Bastien.