Earlier this month, Washington, D.C.’s Council passed a law that prohibits smoking on sidewalks. The so-called “sidewalk smoking ban“ allows property owners to post “no smoking” signs within 25 feet of their entrances. The bill ⎯ “designed to break up the clusters of smokers who crowd around some doorways,” says the Washington Post ⎯ isn’t a full-out ban though. That is, if you decide to smoke anyway, you won‘t be penalized.

“These signs have actually no enforceability because unless you’re on someone’s property, the property owner can’t say to the person who’s smoking on a public way that they may not do that,” Councilwoman Mary M. Cheh told D.C.’s NBC affiliate.

“Despite the lack of penalties, the sidewalk provision has sparked debate in recent weeks over whether the council was moving too aggressively to reduce smoking,” reports the Post.

The nation‘s capital already has a smoking ban in effect that applies to bars, restaurants, and other public spaces. Yet as far as outlawing smoking on public sidewalks, some, like SmokeFree D.C. support the notion, while others think the ban encroaches on their basic civil liberties.