Fire alarms, secondhand smoke, and drug dealing. We are tired of being subjected to marijuana and other narcotic use at Creekside at Crabtree. Are you?

We need your signature for this official petition to Bell Partners Inc. to increase security and to enforce their nonsmoking policy here at Creekside at Crabtree apartment complex. This petition serves as our collective notice as a community that we are being subjected to secondhand smoke from our neighbors, are unsatisfied with the current countermeasures being taken, and are formally requesting Bell Partners Inc. to implement better security and to fulfill their obligation of enforcing the nonsmoking policy with greater efficiency.  

WHAT IS BEING DONE NOW

The current countermeasures being taken against smoking on the property are not effective. Pot smoke continues to cloud courtyards and hallways, leaking through kitchen outlets, carpeting, pipes under bathroom sinks, around toilets, in closets, and through closed windows at all hours of the day and night.

To date, sending individual reports even with photo/video evidence has been met with generic emails reminding the community of our nonsmoking policy, and residents have been asked to call the police instead. Police have stated they cannot enter homes without the owner’s permission and that management has more power in this circumstance as they can enter any apartment with 24 hours’ notice.

The leasing office’s current efforts are limited most likely due to financial restraints and safety concerns. However, Bell Partners Inc.—the owners of Creekside at Crabtree—have the financial power to implement better security measures to enforce their nonsmoking policy. They are legally obligated to investigate smoking infractions reported by the community and to enforce their nonsmoking policy as stated in our lease.

WHY SHOULD I SIGN THIS PETITION?

This petition acts as our collective report as a community that there has been frequent and unrestrained use of marijuana on our property and that it is a health hazard and a violation of our right to fit and habitable homes. We want to be proud of where we live, and we have the right to a smokefree environment.

Once we have enough signatures, it will then be the responsibility of Bell Partners Inc. to enforce compliance of our nonsmoking policy and to do whatever is necessary to keep the premises in a fit, safe and habitable condition for all of us.

WHAT ARE WE ASKING BELL PARTNERS INC. TO DO?

Upon receiving our petition, we ask Bell Partners Inc. to enforce their nonsmoking policy by:

• Requesting a call for service from our Wake Forest Police Department’s K-9 Unit to perform an initial sweep of the property.
• Installing working cameras with cloud storage that can be accessed by police upon request (which will also assist in capturing those responsible for the recent uptick in vandalism and robbery lately at our community) in common spaces including hallways, courtyards, stair wells and elevators.
• Perform a scheduled inspection of the apartment or building floor in question for drug possession or paraphernalia (with 24 hours notice as required by our lease) when an individual report of an apartment or floor is made.

Add your voice to our call for action.

QUICK FACTS

Possessing marijuana is not only prohibited conduct under our lease, it is a crime under NC law. Anyone possessing marijuana is subject to either a misdemeanor charge (less than 1.5 oz) or a felony (greater than 1.5 oz or for repeat offenders). A possession misdemeanor is subject to $200 in fines or thirty days in jail. A felony charge is subject to $1,000 in fines or up to a year in jail. Tenants found guilty of marijuana possession are also responsible for property damage and the vacating of fellow residents as a result of their smoking as stated in our lease. 

North Carolina Gen Stat. § 15A-1340.17, North Carolina Gen Stat. § 15A-1340.23, North Carolina Gen Stat. § 90-95(d)(4), Creekside at Crabtree No-Smoking Addendum 2022-2023

Secondhand smoke from marijuana is just as toxic as smoking tobacco. Secondhand marijuana smoke contains many of the same toxic and cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke and contains some of those chemicals in higher amounts.

Secondhand marijuana smoke also contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the compound responsible for most of marijuana’s psychoactive effects (or the “high”). THC can be passed to infants and children through secondhand smoke, and people exposed to secondhand marijuana smoke can experience psychoactive effects, such as feeling high. Other research shows that marijuana use during adolescence can impact the developing teenage brain and cause problems with attention, motivation, and memory.

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Marijuana use leads to heart attacks, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol. The latest research about cannabis use indicates that smoking and inhaling cannabis increases concentrations of blood carboxyhemoglobin (carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas), tar (partly burned combustible matter) similar to the effects of inhaling a tobacco cigarette, both of which have been linked to heart muscle disease, chest pain, heart rhythm disturbances, heart attacks and other serious conditions. 

University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Aurora, Colorado

Cannabis Use Disorder is the medical term for a person addicted to the daily use of marijuana. A person is considered dependent on weed when they feel food cravings or a lack of appetite, irritability, restlessness, and mood and sleep difficulties after quitting. Nearly three of every 10 marijuana users develop a dependence on weed. Marijuana use becomes an addiction when a person is unable to quit using weed even though it interferes with many aspects of life.

National Institute on Drug Abuse