It comes down to priorities and anti-smoking casino workers believe they fall on the different side of the debate when it comes to the legislature. They’ve pushed for a year to close the loophole that lets smokers light up in a portion of the casinos in Atlantic City. But when It comes to approving tax relief for the gaming halls, they rush the bills through.
The smoking bill has languished for a year, according to the Associated Press.
“Why doesn’t the state of New Jersey care about us?’ asked Lamont White, a Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa dealer who has worked in Atlantic City casinos for 36 years.
New Jersey actually did ban all smoking in the casinos early last year after the coronavirus pandemic broke out, on public health grounds. But the ban was lifted in July of this year, and the casinos returned to the status quo of allowing smoking on 25 percent of the casino floor.
“The one blessing in that pandemic is we got a break from the smoke and the cancer,” said Nicole Vitola, a Borgata dealer. “There’s no reason a pregnant woman should be subjected to secondhand smoke like I was in order to support my family.”
She used the often-uttered words of Democratic Governor Phil Murphy regarding his decisions on Covid-19 in her call for an end to smoking in the casinos.
“Governor Murphy: You say you follow the science,” Vitola said. “The science is clear: secondhand smoke kills.”
Murphy has said he will sign a smoking ban into law once the legislature passes it.
Sweeney repeated an oft-repeated concern of the industry that it would lose business if smoking were banned. That is the position of the Casino Association of New Jersey, the casinos’ trade group.
“Some people tell you they lose 16 percent of your business” if smoking is banned, Sweeney said.
But casino workers point out that the Atlantic City casinos actually did better under the temporary smoking ban than they did before it was implemented.
Angela Martinelli, a Borgata dealer, held a breathing assistance device with an oxygen tube that snaked up to her nose as she participated in the protest. She said she has developed emphysema from working in the casinos.
“My lungs just kept getting worse,” she said. “I’m sick of it. I’m living proof that secondhand smoke creates destruction.”
In related news, Assemblyman Paul Moriarty released a statement December 14 in support of closing the loophole that permits smoking in portions of the casinos in Atlantic City, according to the Press of Atlantic City.
“It is time for New Jersey to treat casino employees as equal to other service industry workers and prohibit smoking in casinos,” said Moriarty, deputy speaker of the Assembly.
Earlier this year, Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pa, the state’s highest-grossing casino in 2019, extended its smoke-free policies Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights said.
The smoking-ban bill has gathered dust in Trenton for over a year without moving forward,
Gov. Phil Murphy has said he intends to sign the bill once it arrives at his desk.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says casino workers are at greater risk for lung and heart disease because of secondhand smoke exposure, and a study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found casino air to potentially have 50 times more cancer-causing particles than air on rush-hour highways, according to the bill.
The Casino Association of New Jersey, the casinos’ trade group, said a ban would cost customers, thus revenue.
“Scare tactics about revenue and job loss are just that — efforts to maintain the status quo, even as it threatens the health of thousands of New Jersey workers,” said Cynthia Hallett, president and CEO of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. “By signing on as a prime sponsor of legislation to eliminate the casino smoking loophole, Assemblyman Moriarty is listening to the voices of thousands of workers instead of the big tobacco and gaming lobbyists.”
