The debate between smoker's rights and non-smoker's rights has not lost its luster.

Cities around the country and the state, including Champaign-Urbana and Chicago, have enacted public smoking bans, and there are some in Carbondale who continue to fight for a ban in the city.

Lisa Mann, manager of health initiatives for the American Cancer Society in Marion and a member of the Smoke-Free Carbondale coalition, said advocates of the ban are trying to stay visible in the community.

"We've made extreme efforts to really be present in the community," she said.

The ACS erected five anti-smoking billboards in August, and the coalition hosted a conference at the Memorial Hospital of Carbondale in July where they released the results of a smoking survey done by Fako and Associates and discussed the contents of the latest Surgeon General's report on second-hand smoke.

According to the report, "The only way to protect non-smokers from the dangerous chemicals in second-hand smoke is to eliminate smoking indoors."

Mann said the ACS and the coalition are pushing for a complete clean indoor air ordinance in the city.

Ralph Conner, the government relations manager at the Heartland Institute, a public policy think-tank in Chicago, said there has been no conclusive documented evidence that second-hand smoke is harmful.

"It's a sad testament to the triumph of junk science," he said.

He said the main problem with banning smoking is that it is a legal product, a sentiment previously echoed by Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole. Conner said banning smoking is a violation of the legitimate rights of smokers.

Illinois is among 12 states and Puerto Rico that have public smoking bans somewhere within state lines. Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed the Clean Indoor Air Act in August 2005, allowing cities and municipalities the choice to ban smoking in public areas.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin met with more than 100 cancer advocates in Washington on Wednesday during the ACS's Celebration on the Hill. Durbin and 14 other senators wrote letters to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez asking him to ensure the Justice Department would hold tobacco companies responsible for the harm they cause to consumers.

Mann said non-smoking advocates are just trying to get back to the basics and look out for people's health.

"It would benefit not only people that go there, but benefit people that work there," Mann said.