SMOKING AT HOME : Take Your Last Puffs Outside

Besides offering to bring the famous clam taquito appetizers with jicama-pine nut relish, Southern California smokers might consider asking another question before accepting social invitations.

Although few have gone as far as posting a sign at the front door, a majority (56%) of 1,586 Southern Californians surveyed in a Times poll said they do not allow smoking in their homes.

Asian and Latino respondents were most adamant about a smoke-free environment--almost three of four Asians (74%) and two-thirds of Latinos (67%) said they do not permit smoking.

Anglos were split: 50% do not permit smoking of any kind, 48% allow it and 2% say cigarettes only. Blacks were the only ethnic group not to ban smoking; 56% allow smoking in their homes.

Two-thirds (67%) of younger respondents (ages 18-24) and 57% of those 25-44 said they did not allow smoking in their homes. In the 45-64 and 65-and-over age groups, however, only about half of either group prohibits it.