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Diagnosed with a severe emphysema condition in 2004, the Mayfield Township resident cannot be exposed to cigarette smoke as it can aggravate an already labored breathing condition. Hall, 57, can only frequent smoke-free establishments.

"Thankfully more and more places around here are going smoke-free, but it can be a problem particularly when I'm driving for my job that takes me into communities I'm not that familiar with. As soon as I hit the door of a place where smoking is allowed my throat begins to get agitated and I have to turn around and leave," Hall said.

"I wish all restaurants could be smoke-free. It would make my life a lot easier, and quite frankly, healthier for everyone," he added.

Hall is not alone in his desire to see all restaurants, bars and public places in Michigan go totally smoke-free.

The idea was debated in the halls of the state Capitol this week as legislators contemplate a ban on smoking in nearly all public places. Thirty other states in the country, including Ohio, have enacted some sort of smoking ban.

State Rep. Brenda Clack, D-Flint, sponsored the bill, for which a hearing was held Tuesday. More than 150 people showed up to share their thoughts.

Smoking bans have been proposed several times in the past, but most have exempted bars and restaurants. Those bills have never gotten a vote in committee or by the full House of Representatives or Senate. The bill may get a vote in the House Commerce Committee in two weeks, though the Senate is not expected to consider it soon, the chamber clerk told The County Press Wednesday.

Several local restaurants, such as the White Horse Inn in Metamora and Apple Tree Family Dining and El Charito's Original Mexican Cuisine in Lapeer, have already banned smoking. They are among the restaurants and bars beginning to take customer complaints about secondhand smoke seriously.

On May 18, Tim and Lisa Wilkins, owners of the White Horse Inn, listened to their patrons and made the 157-year-old business 100% smoke-free.

As a result, remarked Tim, the business has noted a substantial bump in business since they went smoke-free.

"We had people that the last time they were here it was smoking and they heard about the change here and they're coming back," he said. "It has exceeded our expectations. We seriously get about five to nine people each day that either call or e-mail us just to say 'thanks.' I would say it was overwhelmingly a positive decision for us. Business has taken a nice uptick."

Prior to the ban on smoking, of the White Horse Inn's 40 tables, four were designated for smokers. "We kept making the smoking section smaller and smaller, but in our old building it was just too hard to control the smoke," said Tim. "Finally we just decided to make the whole place smoke-free."

Likewise the decision to take his business smoke-free was easy for John Gjolaj, co-owner of Apple Tree Family Dining.

"When we reopened in May I decided we weren't going to allow smoking in the restaurant," Gjolaj said, who opened in a location formerly known as Michael's Family Dining that was destroyed by a fire in November 2005. "We have a lot of families with young children, and I just don't think it's right to expose them, or anyone, to cigarette smoke. It's proven to cause cancer, and most people don't like cigarette smoke around them when they're trying to enjoy a meal."

Gjolaj continued, "As a matter of fact since we went smoke-free I think I'm getting more business because of it. It was a good move. I didn't go smoke-free because I heard there might be a ban coming, but because it was the right thing to do for peoples' health."

The Democratic-sponsored legislation is opposed by the Michigan Restaurant Association and Michigan Licensed Beverage Association, which say eateries and bars should be free to decide whether to allow smoking based on free-market competition without intrusion from the government.

"I think it's bull----.We're a bar. When people come here they like to eat, have a drink and they smoke," Kay McClelland, manager of the Hitch-n-Post Tavern in Lapeer Township, said. "I would estimate 95% of our customers are smokers. I don't think it's right that the government should be able to tell people where and when they can smoke. If they go to a bar they should be able to have a cigarette."

Teresa Herscha, co-owner of Isola's Bistro in downtown Lapeer, wouldn't be opposed if smoking was banned from bars and restaurants.

"And I'm a smoker. I think it would easier and more fair to ban it everywhere," Herscha said.

Smoking is currently allowed at the bar in her business, and at tables in the main dining area at later hours when there is a band performing and the atmosphere more resembles a bar.

"In the bar business especially, people like to drink and smoke, but I really wouldn't be opposed if we had to go smoke-free. Just as long as it's fair across the board where one kind of place could allow it and another couldn't."

U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona released a report last year that condemned secondhand smoke and said breathing any amount of someone else's tobacco smoke harms non-smokers. He called for completely smoke-free buildings and public places, saying separate smoking sections and ventilation systems do not fully protect non-smokers.

The Michigan Restaurant Associations takes issue with the claim, noting the federal government has said there are acceptable levels of other toxins such as mercury, carbon monoxide and dioxin.

Lenny Miller, owner of Lenny Miller's Great Food & Spirits in Dryden, allows smoking in a designated section of the 18-year-old business. He is concerned a state-mandated ban will adversely affect his business.

"I don't want to do anything to deter business, because I take quite a few reservations for the smoking section," Miller said. "I don't like people legislating our lives, but I'll do what I have to do obviously."

Jeffrey Hogan can be reached at (810) 664-0811, Ext. 8113 or jeff.hogan@lapeergroup.com