Smoking weed on balconies

[Lullabycrickets23]

Hello!
I need some advice on how to proceed on this matter.
we live in a leasehold flat under a shared ownership. For about 7 years we had smoked on the balcony, ONLY NORMAL CIGARETTES.
A few months back someone has complained that we were smoking, ourselves and the next door neighbour. We have been told that is unlawful smoking on balconies due to fire hazards. Our leashold agreement states that you cannot have open fires on balconies, but doesn’t mention cigarettes directly.
First question: are cigarettes considered open fires legally?

The second part is: a lot, like a lot of my above and below and opposite neighbours freely smoke on the balcony. Not only that, some also smoke weed quite constantly, as both my front room and the bedroom are very often smelling as well. I cannot pinpoint who it is.
I have already raised it with the management, but they say is unacceptable and to call the police.
But how can I call the police if I don’t know who it is? And also, I don’t think they would come.

So how can I raise this further?
I find unacceptable that we have been told off and threatened legal action for a few cigarettes a day while others keep smoking and some also do drugs without any warning or consequences?
I have a child so we don’t smoke indoors and resorted to have to go downstairs, and I don’t appreciate him being exposed to weed smell 8/9 times a day.

Can the housing association really legally prevent me from smoking on balcony?
Who do I contact regarding the weed?

Weed smell won’t do anything to your child. Second and third hand smoke might. Just go downstairs. The extra effort might help you give up (it did me).

And the weed, you’ll have to work out where it’s coming from and report. The police will doubtless do nothing. You could ask your neighbours nicely to use a smoke buddy to reduce smell. I’d try that before the police. Dryer sheets in a bog roll tube does the same job if you’re skint.

Sorry but what makes you think that second hand weed smoking is harmless but tobacco third hand is not?
A touch biased?

Good opportunity to quit the ciggies!

You'll have to use the ol' donut on a fishing line if you want to catch the weed smokers,.. works every time

Seriously though, the police won't likely be fussed about a bit of weed smoking, unless there's concern that they might be growing or supplying

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5501723/

And it’s not second hand weed smoke, as would happen if someone was smoking in the room with them. It’s the smell of weed, which is very strong, and disgusting, but not likely to harm.

Why not just look for solutions? Smoke buddy, smokeless ashtray, and talk to your neighbours. Smoke downstairs (and change clothes and wash hands) or just give up. Feel free to report that someone (but you don’t know who) is smoking weed and that you believe you can legally smoke on your balcony (even though it’s clearly pissing people off). But it won’t actually help.

I live in HA and have had problems with weed. HA sent warning letter to all the houses in the street to say it’s breaching contract etc. The smell has stopped. I couldn’t work out who it was. Start a new complaint. When I did mine, it asked what action would I like to happen next and I said send a letter out.

Thanks! I will try this!!

Sorry, but my question is not about my right to smoke on the balcony. I accept I can’t, I am going downstairs and really…I didn’t ask about lectures on third hand smoking.

But do you you see how smoking a legal item (cigarettes) has created a problem for someone that didn’t like it, while smoking an illegal substance seems to go unnoticed?
when you roll joints you also put tobacco in it, so there is an exposure to tobacco +weed smoke. Or it wouldn’t be in my front room.
While we know potential damage of tobacco, there is also huge damage caused by weed and legally speaking, it is a crime.
We might condone it, but it is when you affect others.
So if they were smoking crack I should just leave it because is only smell? But the smell of cigarettes is a no no? I don’t get it.
Damage from weed is as bad as cigarettes, and I would like that my child didn’t have to smell it and normalise it.

It seems to me that either everyone can smoke or nobody can smoke. if other people are smoking on their balconies then what they are smoking is irrevant. the HA should be telling everyone that smoking is not allowed on balconies.