The City Council has voted unanimously to ban smoking while on the gambling floor at all of the casinos in Atlantic City. The ban – which will be effective October 15th – was one of the last hurtles that stood in the way of the statewide ban that prevented people from smoking in any public buildings. Until now gambling halls were exempt from this ban.
This ban may prevent gamblers from lighting up while on the gambling floor – but they are still able to smoke while in the smoking lounge. Hundreds of casino workers have been praying that the ban would go into affect and showed their support by wearing t-shirts that said, “Nobody deserves to work in an ashtray.”
Dr. Arnold M. Baskies – the chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society stated, “The employees of Atlantic City’s casinos have hit a jackpot of their own tonight. Hard-working casino employees have been keeping Atlantic City’s multibillion-dollar casino industry on a roll, but have been gambling with their lives for far too long.”
“We’re going to save lives with this,” said Mayor Scott Evans. “People are going to be able to come here and enjoy a nice smoke-free environment.”
Atlantic City first tried to pass the ban back in 2007 – but backed down because they were warned by the casino industry that they would lose 20 percent of revenue and close to 3,000 jobs.
Caesars dealer – Kim Hesse – supports smoking and believes that the ban will cause them to lose some of their regulars who prefer to smoke while gambling – but she thinks that the number of people missing will be small and not affect them in anyway. “Think back just a few years ago: You could smoke in malls, you could smoke in restaurants, you could even smoke in hospitals,” she said. “Now you can’t, and it’s become the norm. People are used to it. “
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