While waiting for her flight back to Reno on Monday, Charlene Herst ate at a sports bar at McCarran International Airport.

As she ate, the manager of chronic disease control for the Nevada State Health Division took note of the restaurant's customers. None was smoking.

Still, when she left the bar, her clothes "just reeked of smoke."

"I was afraid people would smell me on the plane and think that I was this heavy smoker," she recalled. "People need to understand: The smoke is in the walls. It's in the flooring. It remains behind after the smoker has left."

On Tuesday, Herst thought of her smelly airport ordeal as she read the just-released surgeon general's report on secondhand smoke and its effects on nonsmokers.

"One key element of that report is that having separate smoking sections, such as in the airport or a casino and restaurant, really isn't effective in protecting nonsmokers," she said.

The surgeon general's report concluded that there is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure and that establishing smoke-free workplaces is the only effective way to prevent secondhand smoke exposure.

"Overall, I don't think the surgeon general's report is going to change people's minds who are already adamantly on one side or the other" of the secondhand smoke debate, Herst said. "I think where it will be a factor is with those who are in the middle and have been avoiding the issue. It could be a wake-up call for them where they say, 'Oh, my gosh. This is hazardous.' "

Proponents of the more restrictive of two smoking-ban initiatives on the November ballot hope she's right, and that the report will help their cause.

Michael Hackett, campaign manager for the Nevada Tobacco Prevention Coalition, which is promoting the Clean Indoor Air Act, said the report reaffirms findings on secondhand smoke that have been presented during the past 20 years, and the reasons why the coalition pushed for the measure. The measure is backed by the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, the American Heart Association and the Nevada State Medical Association.

The coalition's initiative seeks to ban smoking in restaurants, grocery and convenience stores, and bars that serve food. Earlier this month, District Judge Bill Maddox in Reno threw out a petition by the gaming industry to block the Clean Indoor Air Act from appearing on the ballot. In doing so, he also interpreted the initiative to include hotel and motel rooms, something Hackett said wasn't the intention of the coalition.

The competing measure would keep the status quo by banning smoking on school grounds and in day care centers and video arcades. It allows smoking in slot machine areas of grocery and convenience stores and in designated areas of bars and restaurants.

Currently there are laws that ban smoking on school grounds, in public buildings and in hospital areas, Herst said. In the last legislative session, smoking was banned in child day care centers that are licensed and certified, except for those with fewer than five children. Smoking was also banned in video arcades with 10 or more machines.

Hackett described the new findings in the surgeon general's report as significant, particularly one dealing with children.

"I think the findings on secondhand smoke, that it poses a real danger to children, was clearly spelled out," he said. "One statistic is that children are exposed to secondhand smoke at a rate that is more than double that of an adult."

Backers of the other initiative, the Responsibly Protect Nevadans from Second-Hand Smoke Act, say they agree with the surgeon general's premise of protecting people from secondhand smoke. However, they downplayed some of the report's conclusions.

Lee Haney, a spokeswoman for the measure backed by the gaming, restaurant and tavern industries, said the surgeon general's report didn't take into account Nevada's unique economic reliance on tourists, especially those who come to Las Vegas because they know they can smoke in restaurants, bars and hotel and motel rooms.

"Our belief is that there should be set aside areas for nonsmokers and smokers. People should have that choice to choose one way or the other,'' Haney said. "We are so driven by tourists, and so the fact of the matter is, we don't believe that Nevadans have an appetite to completely ban smoking.''

Yet one conclusion of the surgeon general's report is that smoking bans do not affect the hospitality industry. Hackett said California, New York and Florida, all tourist destinations, have smoking bans in restaurants and bars but have not felt a pinch.

Patrick Dinsmore, a 37-year-old smoker, predicted that a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars wouldn't hurt Nevada's economy. He said most tourists in Las Vegas come for the casinos, shows and gambling.

However, when asked about banning smoking in hotel rooms, Dinsmore seemed shocked.

"Holy smokes! How would they enforce that?'' he asked as he sat outside a Wal-Mart on Charleston Boulevard. "I guess they could get real sensitive smoke detectors, but people will do what they want to do.''

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