In West Virginia, the Hancock County Board of Health recently unanimously voted 3-0 to change the Clean Air Regulation of 2014, its ban on smoking in public places, in order to allow smoking at Mountaineer Casino & Racetrack and in gaming sections of local video lottery parlors. Smoking still will be prohibited in all restaurants, offices, bars, lobbies, hallways and child care areas.
Board member John Plesa proposed the motion. “The motion I am wanting to make to change the policy is to get more tax revenue, This does have an economic side to it because the county commission receives a percentage of whatever revenue is generated by these facilities. It is a very narrowly tailored exception,” he said. Plesa noted lifting the ban will allow Mountaineer Casino to better compete with Wheeling Island and the Meadows casinos, where smoking is allowed. Officials at Mountaineer Casino previously stated the smoking ban affected revenue.
With the smoking ban amended, it’s up to the individual establishments to implement when and if they will allow smoking.
County Health Officer Dr. Anna Suray said she was in “total disagreement” with the decision. “The least in my mind is worrying about whether or not a casino has smokers on the floor. Like in my mind we’re supposed to be focused on: we don’t want exposure of second-hand smoke because we know the health dangers of that.” Suray resigned her position at the end of the meeting.
