Marijuana smoke can move through shared walls, doors, windows, utility openings, balconies and ventilation paths. Treat the problem as an indoor-air and lease-enforcement issue, not a personal argument with the neighbor.

Your goal is not to create dramatic evidence. Your goal is to create believable evidence showing what happened, where it happened, when it happened, how often it happened, and when the landlord was told.

Document safely first

If smoke exposure is causing severe breathing trouble, chest pain, fainting or another medical emergency, seek emergency medical help rather than staying in the area to collect more evidence.

Capture the condition clearly

  1. Start wide. Take one photo that identifies the room, wall, fixture, doorway, appliance, common area or other location.
  2. Move closer. Take medium and close images showing the specific defect. Use a ruler, thermometer, clock, work-order screen or other ordinary reference only when it helps explain the condition.
  3. Use video for movement, sound or recurrence. Leaks, flickering, pests, failed locks, alarms and repeated system failures are often easier to understand on a short video than in a still photo.
  4. Record dates, start and stop times, where the odor enters, and which rooms are affected.
  5. Photograph visible smoke sources only from places where you are lawfully allowed to be; do not confront or secretly enter another tenant’s space.
  6. Use short videos to show conditions such as smoke drifting past your window, a shared hallway filled with smoke, or repeated smoking in a posted no-smoking area.
  7. Save the smoke-free lease clause, advertisements, emails and every complaint number or management response.
  8. Send written notice. State the problem, exact location, when it began, whether it is getting worse, and what repair or action you are requesting. Save proof of delivery.
  9. Build one timeline. Put photos, work orders, management replies, inspection dates, receipts and third-party reports in date order. That timeline can become the backbone of a code complaint, legal-aid intake or RentalFacts listing.

Make your evidence harder to attack

Keep the affected area reasonably clean when cleanliness is relevant to the dispute. Do not stage damage, exaggerate symptoms, edit images in a misleading way, or provoke a neighbor or employee just to get a reaction on camera. Preserve original files whenever possible.

RentalFacts tip: A strong public report should separate what you personally observed from what an inspector, technician, doctor, neighbor or government agency reported.