Casino Smoking Opposition Group Celebrates Atlantic City Council Vote
Posted on: September 1, 2021, 01:46h.
Last updated on: September 1, 2021, 06:19h.
A recent resolution passed by the Atlantic City Council supports extinguishing a loophole that allows tobacco use inside New Jersey gaming resorts. The move was cheered by a leading advocacy group opposing casino smoking.
During its August 25 meeting, the Atlantic City Council voted in favor of a resolution that issues the council’s support of New Jersey Senate Bill 1878. The legislation seeks to end the indoor smoking ban exemption for casinos and simulcasting facilities.
Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANSR) thanked the Atlantic City Council in a statement issued today.
This is a positive step forward to ensure that casino employees are not forced to choose between their health and a paycheck,” declared Cynthia Hallett, ANSR president and CEO.
New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act of 2006 provided Atlantic City casinos immunity from the law. While nearly all other indoor public places must prohibit indoor smoking, casinos are able to designate up to 25 percent of their gaming floors for smoking.
Smoking Ban Odds Long
Atlantic City casinos are adamantly against banning indoor smoking. Industry officials argue such a mandate would put a damper on revenues, a claim anti-smoking advocates reject.
Casinos in several parts of the nation have reported strong play while temporarily banning cigarette smoking indoors. One such market is Pennsylvania, where casinos reported record monthly gross revenue in May despite operating smoke-free.
Hallett says there is no concrete evidence suggesting a significant impact on Atlantic City casino business if they were forced to put out smoke. But she concedes that powerful lawmakers have yet to lend their support to the fight.
“Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) remains the biggest obstacle to getting this legislation across the finish line,” Hallett explained to Casino.org. “We are building a diverse coalition of lawmakers, casino workers, businesses, and others who will help us make inaction unacceptable.”
Sweeney in May stated that New Jersey’s gaming industry is struggling amid COVID-19, and a smoking ban would “chase away a percentage of their business.”
“State legislators will have no choice but to pass this legislation during the lame duck session later this year. Tired industry arguments to keep indoor smoking no longer carry weight, especially since Atlantic City casinos thrived while operating smoke-free,” Hallett declared.
One potential supporter recruited by ANSR is New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D). The first-term governor has said the anti-casino group has made “a very compelling case.”
Bill Drags On
SB 1878 hasn’t gained much steam in the Senate chamber. The legislation has yet to advance out of any committee, and currently sits with the Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee.
Supporters of the bill say it deserves more attention.
“The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that casino workers are at greater risk for lung and heart disease because of secondhand smoke, and a study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that the air in casinos can have up to 50 times more cancer-causing particles than the air on rush-hour highways,” read a statement from SB 1878 co-authors Senators Shirley Turner (D-District 15) and Joseph Vitale (D-District 19).
“This bill would protect all workers in New Jersey from the hazards of second-hand smoke by requiring that casinos and casino simulcasting facilities be smoke-free workplaces,” the lawmakers concluded.
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Last Comments ( 3 )
Casinos should lift ALL anti- smoking bans if they so choose. They are private property and should not even comply with only ALLOWING smoking on 25% of the casino. They could also have NO smoking if they choose.( oh remember Revel, that did not go so well) I am pretty sure the casino workers KNEW that there would be smoking when they made the CHOICE to work there. If the workers don't like the smoke they should find a new job, if the anti-smoking agenda goes forward you won't have a job for long anyways. The main point is that the anti-smoking rules being imposed are null and void as they are repugnant to the constitution. The current anti-smoking agenda was a turning point in this country that we should have NEVER allowed to happen, this needs to be reversed. Whether you are a smoker or not the fact is that private property owners get to decide NOT federal, local or state governments, whether to allow it or not is up to the owners, then people can decide whether or not they want to enter either for work or gaming. This is NOT just about smoking. This is a Constitutional Republic! Stop complying with the all the tyrants!
I don’t think people, namely legislators, understand just what these employees have to face day in and day out. Dealers, in particular, can not stand back, walk away, or even wave smoke from their face without risking termination. Meanwhile, patrons are not required to wear masks and sometimes blatantly and purposely blow smoke right in the dealers’ faces especially after losing a hand. Yes…casino workers signed up for this, but once the Smoke Free Air Act of NJ banned smoking in virtually every place of public access, EXCEPT CASINOS, it became a matter of discrimination. This exemption sends a clear message that casino worker’s health is not nearly as important as profit. Ironically, Atlantic City just posted record breaking operating profits for the 2nd quarter of 2021, while Governor Murphy’s temporary smoking ban was still in place. Collectively, they made 11% more than the pre-pandemic 2nd quarter of 2019. Meanwhile, the 25% non smoking requirement is a joke because the casinos simply count closed games as non-smoking tables. At this point, there is no excuse, no logical reason, and no legitimate argument to keep Senate bill 1878 from advancing so we can finally close this inhumane, corrupt, and unsubstantiated loophole once and for all.
"Atlantic City casinos are adamantly against banning indoor smoking. Industry officials argue such a mandate would damper revenues, a claim anti-smoking advocates reject." Well, if the Antismokers believe this strongly enough, they should be more than happy to show their belief in what they claim to be true by signing a funding guarantee for the first few years (say 3 to 5) of an imposed smoking ban. If the organizations claim not to have the money to guarantee such funding, well, since they "know" that it won't actually be needed, the paid personnel and exectives and board members pushing the ban should also be more than happy to show their belief with the weight of their pocketbooks. Unless they'e lying. Then it might cost them money. In such a case they'll simply try to ignore such an invitation to success... just as they've ignored it in every smoking ban battle where I've proposed it over the past 20 years. They know it would cost them money, their own money, and they know that the only money they're willing to risk is "other people's money." Come on Antismokers! Show your faith in what you preach and sign the papers that will get you your smoking ban! Heck, show your TRUE faith by guaranteeing the INcrease in revenue that you promise will come from all the nonsmokers who simply stay at home nowadays because of the deadly clouds of smoke in the casinos. You'll get what you want and you won't have to pay a dime! *IF* you're telling the truth that is. You ARE, after all, telling the truth, right? Aren't you? Michael J. McFadden Philadelphia, PA