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Red Wing, Minn. (AP) ― Minnesota's 18 Indian casinos could become the last refuge for smokers if the Legislature approves a statewide smoking ban for bars and restaurants.

The Senate may vote this week on the legislation, and Gov. Tim Pawlenty has said he supports it. The issue of tribal sovereignty has simmered throughout the debate because most state laws don't apply on Indian lands -- including casinos.

One lawmaker tried to delay the smoking ban's implementation until all tribes in Minnesota adopted identical regulations, but her amendment failed in a recent hearing. If a smoking ban aims to protect workers, argued Rep. Joyce Peppin, R-Rogers, it should include casino employees.

Several Indian casinos in Minnesota have created nonsmoking areas by installing ventilation systems or glassed-off areas, said John McCarthy, who represents nine of 11 tribes with casinos as head of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association.

The tribes have tried to stay out of the smoking ban debate, and McCarthy said he doubted any tribes would participate in a statewide smoking ban if asked.

"You can look at this from the other side," he said. "They are saying that 70-80 percent of the folks in Minnesota want a smoking ban. If that's true the tribes may stand to lose business if people go there and don't like the smoking."

The federal government has long recognized tribal rights over tribal lands in most cases, although six states including Minnesota have some criminal jurisdiction over tribes. Minnesota criminal laws do apply to Indian reservations, except for the Red Lake Nation. But the smoking ban isn't considered a criminal law.

If the smoking ban becomes law, lawsuits could follow over whether the restrictions would also apply to "fee lands," lands used by tribes that aren't on reservations or in federal trust, said Wilda Wahpepeh, an attorney at Dorsey & Whitney who specializes in Indian gaming law.

So far, no U.S. state has forced Indian casinos to follow state laws banning smoking. An attempt to extend Connecticut's smoking ban to Indian casinos failed when the state Supreme Court rejected arguments that the four-year-old state law is unfair because it doesn't apply to tribal casinos. The court said lawmakers couldn't legislate over "sovereign nations."

"State smoking bans don't apply. Tribal self-governments pre-empts state law," said Shenan Atcitty, who heads American Indian legal and lobbying practice at Holland & Knight in Washington, D.C.

But some Indian casinos are going smoke-free on their own, including a casino in Washington state that added a large nonsmoking building and two Ontario tribes that voluntarily matched the Canadian province's smoking ban in their casinos.

Treasure Island Resort and Casino near Red Wing was the first casino in Minnesota to offer nonsmoking areas, including more than 450 gaming machines, a poker room, 126 hotel rooms and dining in several restaurants. But a recent visit here showed fewer customers in the nonsmoking section than in the rest of the casino.

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Secondhand smoke is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States. In 2005, it was estimated that, each year, exposure to secondhand smoke in the United States kills more than 3,000 adult nonsmokers from lung cancer and approximately 46,000 from coronary heart disease.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)