Last modified: Friday, June 19, 2009 4:26 AM EDT Linda Terry smokes during a work break in Attleboro. A bill on Beacon Hill calls for smoking zones to be pushed 25 feet away from public building entrances. The 25-foot bill BY CATHERINE KRUG FOR THE SUN CHRONICLE Michael Anzaldi and Laura McAuliffe are standing outside the Picadilly Pub in Foxboro, socializing - and smoking. It's a warm afternoon, so they're under the shade of the pub entrance, a scene not unlikely outside many restaurants and bars. But that could be changing shortly. State Rep. Ted Speliotis, a Democrat from Danvers, introduced a bill this week that would keep smokers 25 feet from open windows, doors and ventilation systems. He argues the expanded smoke-free zone will protect the public from second-hand smoke. And that is raising the ire of smokers who say they already feel putupon. "That's ridiculous. We're already banned from smoking indoors, and now they want us to move? What's next?" Anzaldi said when he heard about the proposed bill. "It's not like I'm blowing my second-hand smoke into a non-smoker's face." McAuliffe sounded off, too. "I agree, it's ridiculous. Where do they expect us to stand, in the highway?" she said. That's not so far-fetched. A Cambridge library assistant noted during a legislative hearing on the matter that a 25-foot buffer would place most patrons in a street. "I know the consequences (of smoking). I take a step away from the door. I'm outside in the fresh air. Why 25 feet?" Anzaldi said. A statewide ban on smoking in the workplace, including restaurants and bars, went into effect in July 2004. The new bill would move patrons farther from the doors of eating and drinking establishments, which some worry could hurt business. Still, other smokers don't seem too bothered by the bill. "It makes sense," said Shane Harrah, who was leaning against a wall, at least 25 feet away from the entrance of a Best Buy store. Others think the proposal makes sense. Joe and Sarah, who declined to give their last name, say that as parents, they already keep their home and cars smoke free, opting to smoke when they are out in open areas. Seated outside a Panera Bread restaurant, Sheila, who declined to give her last name, adopted an air of resignation. "I really don't care about it. To each his own," she said as she took a puff from her cigarette. "They have stopped smokers from doing other things. By now, we just go with the flow."