The proposal by the Village Council of the Chevy Chase neighborhood calls for an outdoor ban in all public places, including sidewalks, streets and grassy areas.

Under the ban proposed for the community of 5,000 residents, people caught smoking or throwing away tobacco products in publicly owned areas would be subject to a $100 fine.

According to Friendship Heights Mayor Alfred Muller, who pushed the proposal through the Village Council, the ban would discourage smoking and protect civil rights.

Opponents of the ban, however, accused Muller of inhibiting personal freedom. "A whiff of smoke in someone's face is not a crime or something we need to worry about," said Cleonice Tavani, the president of the Friendship Heights Village Civic Association. "We do not need to be a police state."

The proposal will be considered by the Montgomery County Council early next month. If approved, the measure would be the nation's toughest and most extensive ban on outdoor smoking.

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