If you think that the recent signing of Costa Rica’s new anti-smoking law imposes too many restrictions, then you should not plan to move to the city Elk Grove in Sacramento County, California. According to a recent article written by Mary Elizabeth Williams for online magazine Salon, the council of Elk Grove is currently debating a citywide ban on smoking inside housing units in residential apartment complexes.

The Salon article explains that several multifamily residential structures in Elk Grove already impose smoking restriction on a private basis. This means that while it may not be illegal to smoke, residents who sign lease agreements at these rental communities understand that they can’t light up inside their apartments. There is an inherent marketing value in such measures, as they attract fervent anti-smoking supporters and save property managers and investors the trouble of dealing with cigarette burn marks on carpets and the unpleasant odor left by cigarette smoke.

There is a concern, however, in the fact that a municipal government could prohibit residents from consuming a legal substance in the privacy of their own homes. One could only imagine the enforcement provisions on that council resolution and resulting municipal code; an Orwellian nightmare in which smoking surveillance and detection devices could be installed in apartment units, or the worst alternative of neighbors spying and snitching on each other.

The Costa Rica Star has been following the progress of the “Ley General de Control del Tabaco y sus Efectos Nocivos en la Salud” (the Tobacco Control Law) in the last few weeks. A recent article explained how the Ministry of Public Health is not waiting for the rulemaking aspect of the law to implement some of its provisions, and that the first legal challenge is expected to come from the restaurant and bar owners.

There has not been a strong backlash against the law as it relates to the smoking restrictions it imposes; however, the public is wondering how some of those restrictions could be enforced. One of our dear readers left a comment on our Facebook page with a valid concern: should Fuerza Publica resources be actively involved in anti-smoking enforcement? Should Public Health officials be assigned to patrol ATMs? How can the restriction be enforced at crowded bus stops, where the line snakes around the block and right in front of restaurants and bars where patrons will now be forced to congregate out on the sidewalk for their nicotine fix?

If anything, the restrictions imposed by our new law in Costa Rica are very lenient in comparison to New York City or Orange County, California. At the latter location, which is home to television drama The OC and the original Real Housewives reality show franchise, the city of Laguna Woods has outlawed smoking on patios and balconies attached to both public and private residences.