As president of our association board of directors, the question of banning a unit owner from smoking in their own unit was brought up before in a meeting and does any association board have the right to ban smoking in a condo owners own unit, if it affects their neighbors. 

Looks like The Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii is trying to push in that direction as indicated in the article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, Homes Next target For Smoking Ban.  They are not pushing for laws that would ban smoking, but are pushing to educate associations about adopting rules that would ban smoking in units and on lanais.  Evidently there are associations that have already passed such policies.  This was news to me.  I have read through hundreds of condominium documents with clients that have purchased a condo and have not come across any of these types of policies yet. 

The new condominium laws that came out late last year do address smoking in common areas, but not in ones particular unit.  This should be interesting to see how this plays out.  If associations start adopting these types of policies, this will be another item that buyers and their agents will have to be aware of and research to make sure the right property is acquired. 

I can see it now, “So you need a unit that allows you to smoke and have a 70lb dog?”