A Southern statewide smoking ban?

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who once opposed past efforts to ban smoking in restaurants, yesterday announced that he might move to prohibit smoking in all workplaces statewide.

Only seven states have banned smoking in the workplace. None are Southern, which is not surprising in light of a culture that resists government interference in such matters.

However, according to an article in today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Huckabee's new position indicates that public health considerations are becoming more prominent in the region.

“Maybe to some people’s surprise, I would support a statewide workplace smoking ban, which to me is doing it in the right place for the right reasons,” Huckabee said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It presents for [workers] a health risk we should eliminate, in the same way we would eliminate other health risks like lead paint or asbestos.”

Huckabee’s endorsement of smoking restrictions follows recent news that the state’s adult smoking rate increased slightly in 2004 to 25. 7 percent.

The uptick occurred despite the state’s nearly $43 million investment in smoking cessation and prevention programs and the governor’s own Healthy Arkansas campaign, which aims to reduce adult smoking to 12 percent by January 2007.