SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Lisa Cristia says it’s no coincidence that she contracted cancer after working for 10 years in restaurants and bars. She believes the secondhand smoke she endured caused the illness that required removing nearly half her tongue.

Now she is joining a coalition of hundreds of health groups in asking Illinois lawmakers to ban smoking in the workplace, including restaurants and bars.

Representatives of “Smoke Free Illinois” said Thursday that secondhand smoke kills 2,900 Illinoisans a year, or about eight a day. Sixteen states and dozens of countries already have enacted bans, they said, and it’s time for Illinois to do the same.

“No one should have to sacrifice their health for a paycheck,” said Janet Williams of the Illinois Coalition Against Tobacco.

But an association representing bars and other businesses that serve alcohol argued that a smoking ban would be devastating to their bottom-line.

“What it comes down to is we have a very large customer base that likes to drink and smoke at the same time. If we change the environment so they can’t do that, they’re going to choose a different environment,” said Steve Riedl, executive director of the Illinois Licensed Beverage Association.

Cristia said she developed throat and tongue cancer. She had 23 lymph nodes removed, and her tongue had to be rebuilt with skin from her leg. She can’t taste food or feel much of the left side of her face, she said.

“I’ve never smoked in my life – my own cigarettes, that is,” she said “For years, I inhaled secondhand smoke from everybody else’s cigarettes.”

The Legislature voted in 2005 to let cities ban smoking in restaurants and bars and expanded that to counties in 2006. Sen. John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said he thinks lawmakers are ready to take the next step and adopt a statewide ban.

“We have to respond to save people’s lives. . We’re talking about life and death,” said Cullerton, who supports the ban.

Riedl said he’s confident lawmakers will reject the smoking ban. But if some ban does pass, he said, it should exempt bars, fraternal organizations and bowling alley restaurants.

Customers and employees can be notified that they’re entering a smoking area and then choose whether that is acceptable to them, he said.

“Treat adults like adults,” he said.