life: legality of necessity vs. recreation
I am officially confused. This is no surprise to people who know me because they have heard this confusion many times and are TIRED of hearing it. This confusion is not borne of being a moron, because while I may not be the brightest crayon in the box, I made the Dean's List two semesters in a row for a reason, damnit. My confusion is created by the very fact that I have a brain and I actually *like* to use it, rather than bog it down by the use of alcohol or other "recreational drugs."
Because of this, I don't have the apparently prerequisite understanding to comprehend why my neighbor's life-choice of selling/smoking marijuana from within his apartment (both of which are not allowed according to the lease that we had to sign) is more socially acceptable than my continued ability to breathe. I'm not important and can't possibly understand why that is because I don't smoke marijuana. As it is right now, I've been told by management of my apartment complex that my neighbor's right to smoke in a non-smoking apartment trumps my right to breathe inside the confines of my non-smoking apartment, and that I'm welcome to move. I have lived here for a year and this neighbor just moved in a month ago. I don't even know what to do with this situation. I don't think it's right or legal, but I'm apparently in the minority.
My specific question is,
Which is the more basic human right as prescribed by the statutes laid down by our laws of the land: A person's right to pursue happiness by smoking cigarettes/marijuana where it can get into the walls and into the air and into their neighbor's apartments? Or a person's right to breathe clean air within their own apartment and not be forced to suffer nightly/daily asthma attacks due to smoke from their neighbor's habits?
Which out-weighs the other in importance: the right to smoke or the right to breathe?
I'd genuinely like to know public opinion on this.
Because of this, I don't have the apparently prerequisite understanding to comprehend why my neighbor's life-choice of selling/smoking marijuana from within his apartment (both of which are not allowed according to the lease that we had to sign) is more socially acceptable than my continued ability to breathe. I'm not important and can't possibly understand why that is because I don't smoke marijuana. As it is right now, I've been told by management of my apartment complex that my neighbor's right to smoke in a non-smoking apartment trumps my right to breathe inside the confines of my non-smoking apartment, and that I'm welcome to move. I have lived here for a year and this neighbor just moved in a month ago. I don't even know what to do with this situation. I don't think it's right or legal, but I'm apparently in the minority.
My specific question is,
Which is the more basic human right as prescribed by the statutes laid down by our laws of the land: A person's right to pursue happiness by smoking cigarettes/marijuana where it can get into the walls and into the air and into their neighbor's apartments? Or a person's right to breathe clean air within their own apartment and not be forced to suffer nightly/daily asthma attacks due to smoke from their neighbor's habits?
Which out-weighs the other in importance: the right to smoke or the right to breathe?
I'd genuinely like to know public opinion on this.