Could your apartment be a no-smoking zone?

Audrey Silk smokes a cigarette at her house in New York, March 16, 2011.

Senator Alex Padilla has introduced a bill in California which would allow landlords to prohibit smoking in apartments, duplexes and townhomes if they so desire. The legislation passed the Senate, and is now with the Assembly. If passed, your landlord could legally ban you from smoking in your own pad. Is that fair? Who has more rights in this situation, renters who smoke or landlords who own the property? Is this an issue of property owner rights or individual freedoms? Do we really need a law to sort this out?

Senator Alex Padilla has introduced a bill in California which would allow landlords to prohibit smoking in apartments, duplexes and townhomes if they so desire. The legislation passed the Senate, and is now with the Assembly. If passed, your landlord could legally ban you from smoking in your own pad. Is that fair? Who has more rights in this situation, renters who smoke or landlords who own the property? Is this an issue of property owner rights or individual freedoms? Do we really need a law to sort this out?

Guests:

Alex Padilla, California State Senator (D-San Fernando), author of SB 332

Jacob Sullum, Senior Editor, Reason magazine; nationally syndicated columnist and author of the book For Your Own Good: The Anti-Smoking Crusade and the Tyranny of Public Health.