By Sara QuamIt’s no secret that public health educator Paula Anderson not only believes everyone should quit smoking but that they should not smoke around others.She said Tuesday to the Rock County Commissioners that she thinks the only way to do that would be to get a county-wide ban on smoking in restaurants and bars.But Anderson hasn’t asked commissioners to do that yet. Even she, with all her enthusiasm for a ban, thinks it’s too soon.Anderson and other workers in the health field are not alone in their opinion. There is even a Safe Air For Everyone coalition in the county. She said their theory is essentially, "You can smoke, but don’t do it around other people. It’s like, you can drink, but you can’t drive and endanger other people."Smoking, obesity and alcohol are the top leading causes of preventable death nationwide. Following those is second-hand smoke.Anderson said the additives, not necessarily the tobacco itself, in cigarettes are harmful to breathe second-hand. Tobacco manufacturers put chromium VI (the chemical made famous in the movie "Erin Brockovitch"), lead, ammonia, asbestos and hydrogen cyanide as additives in cigarettes. She said to commissioners that forcing bars and restaurants to be non-smoking doesn’t hurt them. "Our information comes from objective sales tax data that says their sales stay the same or increase after the switch," Anderson said.She said special interest groups that say bars and restaurants are hurt by going non-smoking are misleading the public."The tobacco industry has a lot of money," Anderson said.And, speaking of money, smoking costs Minnesotans $2.64 billion a year, she said.Sharkee’s owner Dave Halverson said current sales tax figures show that Minneapolis’ ban on smoking in bars hurt them. "I looked at information that came from sales tax, too," Halverson said.He said a county or city ban on smoking would hurt business because people could easily go just outside the county to smoke in bars."It’s not just the smokers, but they bring their non-smoking friends out with them. I’m not saying all my customers smoke, but they all go out together and I think the smoking friends would get them to go somewhere else," Halvorson said."If the whole state does it, then fine, I’d have no objection to it."Anderson said people should see second-hand smoke elimination like any other health standard, such as sanitation practices in a restaurant.Anderson said she worries about restaurant and bar workers who are exposed to the 250 cancer-causing chemicals in cigarettes without even smoking themselves.Anderson said, "People say it’s their choice to work there, but that’s like saying someone who is sexually harassed has a choice to stay at their job. Sometimes they don’t have a choice."Even sitting in a non-smoking section of a restaurant, if it’s not completely enclosed, can be harmful she said. "Sitting in that non-smoking section for two hours is like smoking 1 1/2 cigarettes. … It’s kind of like saying there’s a non-peeing section of a pool. It just spreads."Ten states have banned smoking altogether in bars and restaurants. Anderson said the trend may become nationwide but would be better coming from a local initiative.Anderson also plans to talk to the Luverne City Council about second-hand smoke issues but won’t ask them to ban smoking yet.