Trenton weighs smoking ban for A.C. casinos
The troubled Trump Taj Majal. Image via trumptaj.com.
The New Jersey legislature may finally outlaw smoking in Atlantic City’s casinos.
A state senate committee is looking into a bill that removes the casino exemption to the state’s 2006 ban on smoking in public places. It would trump current law, set by the city council, that restricts smoking to 25 percent of casino floors. (The council has tried to instate a full ban before and failed.)
Casino workers and antismoking advocates testified in Trenton on Tuesday for the ban, saying casino workers deserved the same protections as other workers. But opponents, including the Casino Association of New Jersey, say smokers will take their business elsewhere, which will further harm casinos. The economic crisis is hitting Atlantic City and its businesses particularly hard; three casinos are in bankruptcy, and a fourth is headed there in the next week or two, according to the Associated Press.
No votes have been scheduled yet on the proposal.
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