BOSTON -- Boston will hold a public hearing Wednesday on a proposal to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants in the city.

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NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that the plan is drawing mixed reactions. The same proposed ban has generated a lot of controversy in New York City, but has not drawn the same controversy in Boston.

The public hearing will be held at the student center at Roxbury Community College. It will be a chance for people to weigh in on the proposal. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino supports the ban.

Under the smoke-free work proposal, smoking would be prohibited almost everywhere but the outdoors. There would be no smoking in bars, restaurants, clubs, schools or universities.

"We are part of a trend of cities that are going smoke-free. All the large cities in California are currently smoke-free in all work places. New York city is debating virtually an identical regulation to ours," said John Auerbach, of the Boston's Public Health Commission.

The goal is to protect workers against the harmful effects of second-hand smoke. A 1998 federal report shows cancers caused by exposure resulted in an estimated 53,000 deaths a year in the United States.

Business owners said the ban would have an effect on their businesses.

"It'll hurt business originally, but then people will get used to the nonsmoking thing and business will pick up as usual," said Austin Eichelberger of Whiskey's bar.

Top restaurateurs in the city have supported the ban, but many of the bar owners have signed a petition opposing the proposal.

If the city were to adopt the ban, it would go into effect in February of 2003.

Most states have some level of restrictions on public smoking.

California, Delaware and several municipalities, including El Paso, Texas, enforce total bans in bars and restaurants. Maine, Utah and Vermont ban smoking in restaurants but not bars.

According to a study by the National Cancer Institute released Friday, nearly 70 percent of employees worked in businesses that had smoke-free policies in 1999, up from 46 percent in 1993, according to the study.

Only 3 percent of work places were smoke-free 15 years ago, according to government research.

Workers in the Midwest and South -- the regions where most tobacco is grown -- generally reported the fewest smoke-free work places, while those in the Northeast and West had the most.

Utah has the most workers covered by anti-smoking policies -- 84 percent - followed by Maryland, California, Massachusetts and Vermont, according to the study, which was based on responses from 270,000 workers nationwide.

Those states have strong state or local laws restricting smoking in workplaces or public spaces, said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an antismoking group in Washington, D.C.

Nevada has the fewest workers in smoke-free offices -- 49 percent -- followed by Kentucky, Indiana, South Dakota and Michigan, the study found.