A smoking ban in public places represents one of the major conflicts legislators face, said Rep. Jack Landon, R-Sheridan.

He doesn't question the science and statistics behind the dangers of smoking and second-hand smoke, but he thinks a smoking ban in all public places, including bars and restaurants, would take away important personal liberties.

"If I were a smoker and chose to open a bar for all my friends who smoked, I would feel my property rights were taken away," Landon said. "I think it would be coercing adults and I have a real problem with that."

A fellow member of the Joint Labor, Health and Human Services Interim Committee, Rep. Lori Millin, D-Cheyenne, said a personal rights argument isn't valid.

She said she would like to drive her historic Mustang 100 mph on the highway, but laws tell her she can't. As do laws about seat belts and open containers, she said.

"This is a health and public safety issue" Millin said. "I feel like I was elected to protect my constituents."

The committee heard another day of testimony Tuesday from people about a possible smoking ban. Once again, most of the testimony was in favor of a ban.

The committee voted unanimously to continue working on a draft bill with reservations from some committee members.

Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, said the committee should use a bill sponsored by Millin last session as draft. The bill had an exemption for bars that would expire six months after the ban began.

If committee members want other exemptions, they can have them drafted as amendments, Scott said. The amendments, along with a draft of the bill, would be discussed during meetings Dec. 1 and 2. The committee would vote if it would sponsor any smoke-free legislation.

Millin's bill, which failed introduction, was sponsored by three other members of the committee: Sen. Bob Fecht, R-Cheyenne; Sen. John Hastert, D-Green River; and Rep. Elaine Harvey, R-Lovell.

Rep. Timothy Hallinan, R-Gillette, said he wouldn't vote for a ban on the floor of the House if it included restaurants and bars. He said a smoking ban in workplaces was OK.

"Since I am in the minority of my own profession, I thought it required some explanation," said Hallinan, a family practice doctor. "In my practice, I always used persuasion instead of coercion."

He said he would give patients all the information and tools they needed to quit smoking, but he would leave the final decision up to them. Like Landon, Hallinan said this is an issue of personal freedoms.

Several local businesses have spoken out against the ban. Pat Sweeney, owner of the Parkway Plaza Hotel and Convention Centre, Wonder Bar and Poor Boys Steak House, spoke Monday night about how a smoking ban would hurt business at his hotel.

Mike Moser, lobbyist for the Wyoming State Liquor Association, spoke Tuesday for about 1,000 businesses across the state. He said studies that say there is no economical impact on bars from a smoking ban are misleading because they don't look at individual businesses.

"If there aren't municipal exemptions, this fight will still go on," Moser said.

Lazy 8 Saloon on U.S. Highway 20-26 would lose a lot of business, said owner Linda Henderson. She said half her customers are smokers.

"They don't have a right to dictate my business," said Henderson, who didn't speak at the meetings. "They're always coming up with something new."

Scott said he usually agrees with personal rights issues, but he said it's different with second-hand smoke because it harms others.

Katherine Hooper is a prime example. She told the committee she was diagnosed with cancer of the voice box in 1990 even though she never smoked.

She said she worked in an oil industry office for 18 years, where everyone else smoked. When she complained about the smoke, her boss gave her a fan.

"You had to fight through the smoke to do your job," Hooper said. "We were the first to give women the right to vote. Let's be one of the first to ban smoking."

Contact health reporter Allison Rupp at (307) 266-0534 or allison.rupp@trib.com.