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LITTLE ROCK - Gov. Mike Huckabee, who successfully pushed for a statewide workplace smoking ban earlier this year, predicted Wednesday that cigarettes eventually won't be sold because of their health risks.

"I think the day will come when we probably won't" sell cigarettes, Huckabee said on his monthly call-in radio show. "If cigarettes were introduced to the marketplace today, they wouldn't be sold. They'd never make it because what we didn't know when they were first created, sold and marketed is just how deadly harmful they were."

Huckabee was responding to a caller's question of why cigarettes are allowed to be sold if they are so harmful. The governor fielded complaints from at least two callers about the state smoking ban, which went into effect July 21.

Under the ban, violators could face fines of up to $500 for a criminal violation and $1,000 for a civil violation. The criminal penalties are already in effect; civil penalties go into effect Aug. 10.

The state has received about 250 complaints of violations of the new law since it went into effect last month, Arkansas health officials said earlier this week.

The law allows smoking areas in certain businesses, including small hotels and motels, retail tobacco stores and long-term care facilities. The law also includes an exemption for bars and restaurants that don't admit people under 21.

At least 130 businesses have applied for an exemption.

The governor has been targeted regularly on his radio show by smokers who say the ban violates their rights. One caller asked why the state doesn't charge nonsmokers for clean air.

Huckabee said the smoking ban is not an attempt to prevent people from smoking, but is a way to protect nonsmokers from tobacco's harmful effects.

"It's not about denying people the right to do something dangerous," he said. "Smoking is unequivocally dangerous...The question is, should the rest of us be responsible for any of the harm?"