PEORIA - Amid local smoking bans that have spread to more than two dozen cities and counties, slightly more than half of Illinois voters now favor a statewide ban to clear the air in all indoor public places, including bars and restaurants, according to a new poll.

Fifty-four percent of respondents backed a comprehensive statewide ban for workplaces, bars and restaurants in a Sept. 19-21 poll of 625 registered voters conducted for Copley News Service by Washington-based Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc.

Thirty-nine percent opposed a statewide ban, while 7 percent were undecided, according to poll results published Tuesday in Copley newspapers in Peoria, Springfield, Galesburg and Lincoln. The poll's margin of error is four percentage points.

Anti-smoking advocates say a groundswell to snuff out indoor smoking is gaining steam across Illinois with bans now on the books in nearly 30 cities and counties, including Chicago, Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana and Springfield.

"That's how you build momentum to get a statewide law," said Kathy Drea, public policy director for the American Lung Association of Illinois and Iowa, which released a study last year showing 66 percent support for a statewide ban.

Smoking ban opponents say polls are flawed because they lump all public places together and don't include an option to exclude bars and fraternal clubs they argue would lose customers if smoking is banned.

Steve Riedl, executive director of the Illinois Licensed Beverage Association, predicted support for a statewide ban would be even higher without bars and clubs in the mix.

"Everybody is for a comprehensive smoking ban, including us. But we feel there should be some limited exceptions. The question doesn't give (respondents) an alternative," Riedl said.

A proposed statewide smoking ban cleared a House committee last winter, but has never gone to a vote in either chamber of the Illinois Legislature. Drea said she hopes that changes in January, when a new General Assembly is sworn in.

"It's a non-election year, so it'll be more positive for a vote," Drea said.

Fourteen states have enacted comprehensive indoor smoking bans that include bars and restaurants.

Another Copley poll released Tuesday found that 59 percent of registered voters say pharmacists should be required to dispense emergency birth control even if they believe it is morally wrong.

Twenty-seven percent of respondents said pharmacists should not be compelled to fill prescriptions for the so-called "morning-after pill," while 14 percent were undecided.

The issue erupted in Illinois last year when a Chicago pharmacist refused to fill a prescription on moral grounds. Gov. Rod Blagojevich then issued an executive order requiring pharmacists to fill prescriptions if the drugs are in stock.

Since then, the state has cited a handful of pharmacies for violating the order and lawsuits have been filed over the issue.

The poll, also conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, included 625 registered voters in Illinois and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.