Owners of video lottery casinos in Brooke County, West Virginia are concerned that a revised smoking ban under consideration by county officials could affect their businesses. To the north, Hancock County, home to Mountaineer Casino, recently passed a smoking ban in public places, including casinos, restaurants and bars. Since 2005, restaurants and bars in Brooke County have been required to designate at least 25 percent of their business for smoking, but the new measure would prohibit smoking completely.
Michael Bolen, Brooke County Health Department environmental supervisor, said, “It’s a little more strict guideline, basically to where smoking would be prohibited inside any indoor area. Seventy-five percent of the population of Brooke County doesn’t smoke so you only have 25 percent that does. So you have a lot more clientele that could possibly come to your business if smoking is regulated.”
Bolen said the primary motivation for the new regulation is an independent study that ranked Brooke County 55th–last in West Virginia– regarding physical environment. “One of the things public health can do is look at clean indoor regulation and make stricter policy to bring up our ranking in that area.” He added, the city of Weirton extends to both Hancock and Brooke counties, “and it just makes sense that we have the same type of regulation so there’s no confusion there,” Bolen said.
A public meeting on the issue will be scheduled in October.
