A casual cigarette could soon become more expensive and less legal under a pack of health-focused bills making their way through the state House.

All three bills have already received the approval of the full Senate.

Under one bill advanced yesterday, lighting up wouldn't be allowed in a wide array of public spaces including bars, airports, bowling alleys, galleries, coin-operated laundries and any enclosed sections of public stadiums. Open-air public areas such as parks and beaches, as well as other areas like hotel rooms and tobacco stores, would be exempt from the prohibition.

The bill is largely aimed at protecting people from inhaling secondhand smoke in their workplaces.

Workers at bars are particularly vulnerable, said Christopher Pablo, director of government and community affairs at Kaiser Permanente and chairman at the American Cancer Society Hawaii Pacific.

Food-service workers are 50 percent more likely of dying from lung cancer than the general public, he said.

"It's easier to say, 'These people have a choice' — not everyone has a choice of where they work," he said.

Members of the House Health Committee also passed a measure that would ban sales of flavored cigarettes in Hawai'i because their sweet-sounding varieties such as cocoa and candy are believed to be attractive to children.

Lawmakers, however, decided to wait a few more days to fine-tune another measure that would boost taxes on cigarettes — splitting the proceeds between the University of Hawai'i's Cancer Research Center and state smoking-prevention programs.

David McClain, the university's president, showed up yesterday to deliver the school's testimony in support of the measure.

In response to questions from Rep. Alex Sonson, D-35th, (Waipahu, Crestview), over the appropriateness of using a cigarette tax to fund a cancer center, McClain acknowledged that there are other ways to find money for the school's research, but this one appears right.

"This particular financing mechanism seems to be, from a public finance theory point of view, a pretty strong one because you target the tax at a social problem. The tax reduces the social problem and at the same time generates resources that allow you to treat the side-effects of the social problem for a long time," he said.

According to the American Heart Association, 82 percent of the Islands' adults don't smoke. But the use of tobacco costs Hawai'i taxpayers and businesses an estimated $575 million in medical expenses and lost productivity.

McClain said later that bolstering the center is the university's highest priority, and the millions brought in by the tax increase would allow the center to nearly double its number of researchers over the next 10 years and build new facilities.

"So it's really an upgrade in the healthcare of our community," he said.

Under the current version of the measure, the tobacco tax would go from the current 7 cents per cigarette to 9 cents on the first day of 2007, an increase of 40 cents per pack of 20 cigarettes, to $1.80. The tax would then increase to 11 cents in 2008 and 13 cents in 2009.

While the difference per smoke is only a few cents, those pennies add up to a significant chunk of money.

The proposed law would bring in an estimated $24 million the first year, and then $48 million and $72 million in the following years.