Fans of the television show Mad Men, set in the mid-1960s, are often shocked by  the near-constant presence of smoldering cigarettes in nearly everyone's hands.  Indeed, if if you told any of the show's characters that in just a few decades,  cities across the nation – including New York and Chicago - would ban smoking not just in office  buildings, but also in bars, restaurants, and even public parks, they would  have laughed in disbelief.  

 Of course, we know better – and breathe easier, for the most part. In 2008 the Smoke-Free Illinois Act went  into full effect, prohibiting smoking in virtually all public places and  workplaces, including offices, theaters, museums, libraries, educational  institutions, schools, commercial establishments, enclosed shopping centers and  retail stores, restaurants, bars, private clubs and gaming facilities. Last  year, the ante was upped by banning smoking in city parks, beaches, public  plazas and boardwalks - violators can be fined $500 for lighting up.  

 Butts Out

 Now, in 2012 there is a controversial proposal on deck to ban smoking in private  apartments as well. Illinois State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-12th District,  Chicago), is one who firmly believes in the ban, and she's backing up her  beliefs with proposed legislation. This past January, Feigenholtz, along with  fellow Rep. Kelly M. Cassidy (D-14th District, Chicago), introduced a bill that  would give Illinois condo associations the legal authority to ban smoking in  the private units of multifamily buildings.  

 The Smoke-free Illinois Act axed smoking in public spaces and in private  businesses, but private residences were exempt, since trying to legislate  people's behavior in their own homes strikes many – even staunch anti-smokers – as unfair, and possibly even unconstitutional, falling as it does right on the  line between public health and private property.  

 Feigenholtz has heard this argument often, but disagrees. She believes that  smoke can travel from a smoker's apartment into other units thus affecting the  health of the other residents. “Secondhand smoke can cause health problems ranging from a sore throat to asthma  symptoms to lung cancer,” she says. “If a condo resident’s smoking can imperil a neighbor’s health, then condominium associations should be able to impose building  smoking restrictions. This legislation will encourage condominium associations  to opt-in to existing law and update their bylaws to address resident tobacco  use – but it places no mandates or requirements on the associations to do so.”