Smoking in most workplaces could soon be banned in Tennessee, a state with a long history of producing tobacco, the New York Times reported March 12.

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen has proposed the indoor-smoking ban as well as tripling the current cigarette tax to help pay for smoking-prevention programs. Longtime tobacco farmer Rick Gregory isn't surprised. "I think the fact that the governor will support a smoking ban shows not only the change that's taking place in Robertson County, but the change that's taking place in the state as a whole," he said. "Politically it would have been suicide, until fairly recently."

"It's something you couldn't have done in Tennessee a decade ago," agreed Bredesen said. "I think people are ready for it. Everything is not seen through the prism of being a tobacco state."

Economically, tobacco has become far less important in Tennessee, and the industry's influence at the state capital has declined as a result.

The smoking ban has won support from both the Tennessee House speaker and the Senate president, as well as the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce. "What's exciting here is that we're seeing more activity in what is traditionally tobacco country," said Annie Tegen of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights. "Times are definitely changing, and just because they grow tobacco there does not mean that they're not going to take public health seriously."