Smoking Ban Pudding

After receiving a comment to a previous post (Kansas City, Kansas, Smoking Ban) that questioned the effectiveness of bans on tobacco smoking in public places, I consulted a professional with a major university cancer research program. I was told that a recent 'map' on the decrease in number of cancer deaths per 100 cancer diagnoses across the US showed that the number of deaths from cancer were dramatically decreased in those states which have instituted public smoking bans - with the lowest numbers being in those states which have had the bans the longest (i.e., CA, OR). The researcher asserted that those results are pretty good proof for the argument for a ban on public smoking. I would imagine that smoking ban opponents would say that those numbers are just more false propaganda from the anti-smokers. However, as the adage goes, the proof is in the pudding.