After hours of impassioned testimony, the House Judiciary Committee decided not to vote on the measure, effectively ending its chances of survival this year. The bill would have allowed bars to apply for a special liquor license to permit smoking.

Committee Chairman Tommy Waters, D-Lanikai-Waimanalo, acknowledged that some bars are going to permit smoking despite the state's ban, which went into effect in November.

"My feeling is that this law is unenforceable — bars are going to allow smoking anyway," Waters said.

At least 14 bars across the state are openly defying the smoking ban by allowing their customers to smoke. Police have not issued a single citation.

The debate before the representatives focused on weighing the risk of second-hand smoke against business owners' rights.

"There's no safe level of second-hand smoke. This law in place protects everyone," said Debbie Odo, director of tobacco control for the American Lung Association of Hawaii.

Bar owners said they had lost money since the law went into effect because their customers are drinking at home rather than socializing at the pub.

Bartender Ronald Savoy, who works at the Hideaway in Waikiki, said his personal income has dropped 70 percent because of the ban. He made only $26 in tips Thursday, compared with between $150 and $200 on a typical Thursday last year.

"You've reached into my pocket and taken my income away, and all for the greater good," Savoy said. "My customers are no longer coming to the bar on a regular basis."

Hawaii's smoking ban covers open malls and Hawaii's many popular year-round outdoor dining areas, and it doesn't allow bars or offices to set aside rooms for smokers.

Sixteen states have banned smoking in public places. Hawaii's law calls for penalties starting at $100 and increasing to $500 after the third offense. Bars could eventually lose their liquor licenses, and customers could face $50 fines.

Despite the Legislature's action to defer the smoking bill, supporters of the proposal said they won a symbolic victory by getting such lengthy consideration from lawmakers.

"If not for our movement, they would have shot it out of the sky," said Kawika Crowley, co-chairman of Americans for Freedom of Choice. "This is fantastic. This should be a sign to the rest of the nation that these people can be fought against."

Representatives said they didn't want to undo a law that only went into effect, and some signaled a willingness to hear similar proposals again next year.