Ten weeks after they enacted the most draconian smoking ban in the nation, city officials in Calabasas, Calif., say the rules are having the desired impact -- reducing exposure to the secondhand smoke that can accumulate when smokers congregate outdoors and near building entrances.

No citations have been issued over the rule, which bans all smoking outdoors except in designated areas. And business leaders are cooperating, with the city approving 16 permits so far for businesses wanting to have smoking areas designated nearby, the officials say.

"The response we have heard thus far is mostly positive," said Stephanie Warren, chairman of the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce. "Most of our members are for anything that maintains our standard of living."

Some smokers are bridling: Robert Best, California state coordinator for the Smokers Club Inc., an international smokers-rights coalition, says his group is waging a grass-roots boycott. Mr. Best says so far close to 100 commuters who drive through Calabasas, about 10 miles west of Los Angeles, have signed on and suspended dining or shopping there in protest.

Smokers' rights groups contend that no scientific or medical data indicate that curbs on outdoor smoking are effective or necessary. "We all know that smoke dissipates," says Mr. Best.

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