Vol. 5, No. 5, May 2008
RSS Feeds
City Approves Smoking Ban
By late last month, the unanimous support of City Council made a 100 percent smoking ban seem all but certain for Atlantic City’s casinos. Now casino operators in the city are hoping for similar bans in Pennsylvania and across the nation.
Atlantic City had pointed to out-of-state gaming—and the fact that smokers are still welcome in Pennsylvania casinos—as reasons its revenues dipped in 2007. Atlantic City saw a 5.7 percent decline last year over 2006; though the numbers were up slightly in February, they plummeted again in March by almost 10 percent.
Currently, smoking is permitted on one-fourth of Atlantic City’s casino floors. A full ban means operators will have until October 15 to build dedicated smoking rooms or prohibit smoking altogether.
Though Donald Trump decried the decision because it gives Pennsylvania a competitive edge, Pennsylvania may soon enact its own smoking ban, and similar bans are becoming widespread throughout the East. Delaware included casinos in a comprehensive 2002 smoking ban. New York and Connecticut banned smoking everywhere but Indian casinos (and legislators says Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods are next). Maryland banned smoking for most indoor settings in February.
Now casino operators who once balked at smoking bans hope for a nationwide ban that will end the discussion once and for all.
