Atlantic City now has much cleaner air since April 15, from the day when a new smoking law went into
effect and restricted smoking to no more than 25 percent of casino floors in the city. The law took effect exactly a year after New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act prohibited cigarette, cigar and pipe smoking in private office buildings, restaurants, bars, and other indoor places. Smoking in Casinos, however, remained unaffected. Smoking bans have proven to be the biggest motivation for people to want to quit
The council had been ready, after New Jersey’s ban on smoking in all workplaces except casino floors and tobacco shops took effect in 2006, to completely ban smoking on the casino floors. But it was a move casino owners vigorously opposed because they feared a substantial drop-off in business with gamblers who smoke. The casinos were probably right that a complete ban would have resulted in lost customers and revenue. So the city council instead passed an ordinance limiting smoking to no more than 25 percent of the casino floor.
The new law is a result of conciliation between Atlantic City and the casino industry in the city. While the city intended to ban smoking completely in the city’s 11 casinos, the casino industry objected, saying the move will result in a 20 percent loss of revenue and the termination of up to 3,400 casino employees. Casinos in the city placed signs to notify the patrons which areas are smoke-free and where they can indulge themselves in a cigarette. Only few people needed to be reminded not to smoke in smoke-free areas.
As enclosed lounges will protect casino workers from cancer-causing smoke. The enclosed smoking lounge on casinos floors in Atlantic City, approved by the city council there, makes sense. Ultimately, this is a solution that takes the interests of smokers and nonsmokers into account and offers a reasonable solution.
Not surprisingly, that solution has not been loved by dealers and other casino workers who are still exposed to cancer-causing cigarette smoke. However, one casino, the Tropicana, came up with a plan to make its casino floor smoke-free except for enclosed smoking lounges, thus sparing dealers from having to stand a foot or two away from lit cigarettes. Other casinos followed suit with these lounges. Offering smokers a place to light up without having to walk too far from the slot machine or table where they’re playing is a practical solution. Smokers can get their fix without having to walk far to get to the Boardwalk or street. Dealers and other workers don’t have to breathe in the smoke and risk their health.
According to health experts, the ban has already started to show short-term benefits to the health of the nation and there are expected to be significant long-term benefits. According to a new report released in England, over 40% of smokers who tried to quit their habit, did so because of smoking bans in public places where they went. Smoking bans are becoming more and more of a common thing in the U.S. and abroad. Every year an estimated 53,000 Americans die because of exposure to secondhand smoke, say health experts, and that’s not to mention the hundreds of thousands who develop serious diseases as a result — cancer, asthma and heart disease. So far, 18 states have passed laws banning smoking in public places, but sometimes special exemptions in those laws make the bills all but meaningless.
The full smoking ban was to take effect 90 days after being signed into law by Evans. But just before the vote, a compromise was reached between council members and casino officials to extend the deadline to Oct. 15, 2008 to have the smoking lounges built.
