CHEYENNE - Two-thirds of Wyoming voters support a ban on smoking in public places, including restaurants and bars, according to a new statewide poll.

The poll also found that 74 percent of registered voters believe the right of customers and employees to breathe clean air indoors trumps the rights of smokers.

The poll also found that 92 percent of voters say they would go to restaurants more frequently, or at least the same amount of time, if they were smoke free.

"It shows that the people of Wyoming would absolutely support a smoke-free Wyoming," said Loretta Wolf, spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society in Wyoming, one of the groups that commissioned the poll.

The American Cancer Society and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, a national group that supports smoke-free legislation, also helped pay for the survey.

The poll by Harstad Strategic Research Inc. of Boulder, Colo. was conducted from Sept. 26 to Oct 1, and included 504 registered voters from across the state. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percent.

While 66 percent of voters supported a statewide smoking ban, 32 percent opposed it, the poll results show.

Democrats and Republicans supported the ban at about the same level, 67 percent and 68 percent, respectively.

Support was also steady across the age spectrum, with support only ranging a few percentage points between voters aged 18 to those 60 or older.

Women, 70 percent, were more likely to support a smoking ban than men, at 61 percent.

Only six percent of voters said they would go to restaurants less often if indoor smoking were outlawed, while eight percent said they would be less likely to frequent bars, the survey showed.

More than seven out of 10 voters believed that exposure to second-hand cigarette smoke is notably harmful to people's health, the poll found.

Twenty-seven percent of voters surveyed said that exposure to second-hand smoke is "just somewhat" or "not at all" harmful.

The new survey results were made public just as a state legislative committee is considering whether to introduce smoke-free legislation at the upcoming budget session in February.

Sen. Charlie Scott, R-Casper, chairman of the Labor, Health and Social Services Committee, has said he only intends to introduce the bill if a majority of the committee members support it.

A two-thirds vote of either the House or the Senate is needed to introduce a nonbudget bill during the budget session.

A similar bill last year, sponsored by Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, failed to even make it to the House floor for a first-reading vote, so lawmakers this year anticipate a tough sell if the bill does more forward.

"This is the toughest fight we will face," said Sen. Bob Fecht, R-Cheyenne, a member of the committee considering the new legislation, earlier this year.

About 27 other states have adopted smoke-free laws, although the scope of the laws varies somewhat from state to state.

Wolf, of the American Cancer Society, said her group is pushing for a comprehensive bill that includes a ban on smoking in bars, restaurants or other businesses.

Dan Hatanelas, a Cheyenne bar manager who opposed a citywide smoking ordinance that became law last year, said he would also oppose statewide legislation.

But he said a statewide ban may be more fair to businesses in Cheyenne that now must compete against nearby Laramie County businesses that are exempt from the local ban.

Hatanelas said his bar, DT's Liquor Mart, saw a 19 percent drop in revenue during the first 12 months of the local ban, which took effect in August 2006.

"I'd hate to see anything happen, but maybe on a statewide basis it would be less traumatic for us," Hatanelas said.

Supporters of smoke-free laws and ordinances point to the health dangers of second-hand smoke, which were articulated last year in a report from the U.S. Surgeon General.

Opponents, often bar and restaurant owners, say they lose revenue from smokers who go elsewhere once smoking is no longer allowed.

However, studies in Wyoming communities were smoke-free ordinances have been adopted show no significant impact on local business.

The results of the new poll are somewhat more dramatic than a similar poll commissioned a year ago by the Casper Star-Tribune.

That poll, conducted Oct. 9-12, 2006 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., found that 57 percent of Wyoming voters support a comprehensive statewide ban on smoking in all indoor public places, including work places, restaurants and bars.

It surveyed 625 registered Wyoming voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

In addition to Cheyenne, the cities of Laramie and Evanston have adopted their own smoke-free ordinances. The Rock Springs City Council is considering a similar ordinance.

An effort to enact a similar rule in Casper failed in 2000.

Reach Star-Tribune capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or at jared.miller@casperstartribune.net.