San Rafael City Council will consider passing one of the strictest smoking bans in the state Monday. The ban would prohibit smoking in private living rooms in multi-family buildings, apartments and condos.

If the apartment shares a wall, smoking would not be allowed.

Bay Citizen reporter Jennifer Gollan reports that the City Council sees the ban as a protection from harmful second-hand smoke.

But smokers, she says, feel it's an attack on freedom: "Smokers I spoke with really expressed dismay over this ban, saying that the government is overreaching and essentially being a big brother. And they should be allowed to conduct their private lives in their own homes as they wish."

If passed, San Rafael would join a handful of other California cities and counties with similarly strict bans, including Belmont, Richmond and Sonoma County.