SPRINGFIELD - A proposed statewide indoor smoking ban would put out cigarettes in almost all Illinois workplaces, including bars and restaurants, and force smokers 15 feet from entrances to light up outside.

Groups, including the Illinois Lung Association and American Cancer Society, released details of the plan for the first time Thursday, citing the harmful health effects of secondhand smoke as a reason for kicking smokers out of workplaces.

They say that while office workers are protected from secondhand smoke, many bartenders and waitresses are not. If the ban succeeds, Illinois would join 16 other states in going smoke-free indoors.

"We need to play catch-up with the rest of the world," said state Sen. John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat who is pushing the ban.

Steve Reidl, a spokesman for the Illinois Licensed Beverage Association, says his group will fight the ban.

"They're trying to treat adults like children," he said.

The idea is being carried forward after lawmakers only recently voted to give local governments the power to ban smoking. Before, only a couple dozen cities had that authority in Illinois.

Earlier this week, some lawmakers who voted for granting communities local control shied away from taking it back two years later.

Lawmakers and health advocates showed persistence in plugging that concept for years before eventually winning approval in 2005, so some think approval of a statewide ban is only a matter of time.

"I believe smoke-free public places are inevitable," said state Sen. Christine Radogno, a Lemont Republican.

Cullerton surmised that some organizations that fought against local control might support a statewide ban. He says uniform statewide rules would prevent smokers from flocking from smoke-free towns in search of bars where they can get a nicotine fix indoors.

Mike Riopell can be reached at mike.riopell@lee.net or 789-0865.