Rather, the experts said, there has been improvement to air quality and the quality of life for people with lung disease who previously found just going to work could send them to the hospital with breathing problems.

Small-bar owners, however, emphasized that people have a choice where they work and what establishments to patronize, and an across-the-board ban doesn't recognize the segment of the population that chooses to light legal tobacco products in public. Owners of bars and nightclubs, where smoking has always gone hand in hand with drinking, say they have been forced to either disregard the law or cope with lost revenue.

The Health committee members — charged with improving the state population's overall health — didn't seem inclined to adjust the rules on smoking, but House Health Committee Chairman Josh Green, an emergency-room doctor, did seem willing to consider economic aid. "I'm trying to make sure there's a way that the businesses can survive without having to rely on cigarettes, and it's a complicated issue," he said during an informational session at the state Capitol today.

According to Jolynn Tenn, co-chairwoman of the Hawai'i Smokers Alliance, about 20 bars across the state have decided to allow smoking inside despite the law, while more than 50 more have only nominally complied by posting signs but have not moved to enforce the ban.