Anti-smoking activists in Atlantic City, headed by the employee group Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE), are gearing up for a joint hearing this Thursday, March 9, of the New Jersey Assembly Health Committee and the Assembly Tourism, Gaming, and the Arts Committee that will discuss legislation to eliminate the casino exemption to the state’s indoor smoking ban.
The hearing will prove a critical step in the efforts of CEASE, made up mainly of table game dealers, to ban smoking in Atlantic City casinos, a move opposed by the industry under the argument that banning smoking would cause casinos to lose business and perhaps even close.
“This Assembly hearing is yet another step forward on the path towards protecting our lives,” said a statement released last week by CEASE. “This cause is bipartisan and this bill has 53 Assembly co-sponsors.
“No other group of workers in casinos is forced to deal with secondhand smoke like we are. Guests two feet in front of our faces blow smoke at us every day, and we can’t even turn our heads because we’re watching over the chips on the table. It’s unbearable, and too many of our colleagues, friends, and family members have been hurt by this outdated business practice.
“We are grateful to Committee Chairmen Herb Conaway and Ralph Caputo for scheduling this hearing. We also thank Assemblyman William Moen and Deputy Speaker Paul Moriarty for leading the bill as prime sponsors. CEASE will not rest until this bill is signed into law and we no longer must choose between our health and a paycheck.”
While 53 of 80 Assembly members are cosponsoring A2161, the bill to be debated March 9, a companion bill in the New Jersey Senate, S264, has garnered 25 cosponsors out of 40 senators. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has said he will sign any smoking-ban bill to reach his desk.
A majority of members of the two committees are now co-sponsors of A2151. Eight of 12 Assembly Health Committee members, and four of seven Assembly Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee members, are co-sponsoring the bill.
“We’re thankful to the members of the committees for supporting this critical legislation that will protect our lives,” said Pete Naccarelli, co-leader of CEASE, according to InsiderNJ.com. “We welcome the support of a majority of members from these two important committees as well as the several other members who recently signed on as cosponsors to the legislation.”
The hearing comes on the heels of the latest report on secondhand smoke from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which examined air quality in Las Vegas casinos. The report, titled “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Your Lungs,” evaluated particulate matter—an indicator for secondhand smoke—in casinos that are smoke-free indoors, and compared the results to casinos that allow smoking.
The CDC concluded that prohibiting smoking throughout the entirety of a casino is the only way to prevent the harms of secondhand smoke.
“This CDC report yet again confirms what scientists, health experts, and casino workers have known all along: the only way to stop threats to the health and safety of casino workers and patrons is to enact 100 percent smoke-free indoor policies,” said Cynthia Hallett, president and CEO of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights.
“It is no surprise that Park MGM, the only smoke-free casino on the Strip, was the only casino that reported safe air quality throughout their property. As the ventilation experts have repeatedly said, there is no ventilation system that can protect worker and guest health in casinos. That’s why we’re working with casino workers in places like Atlantic City, Nevada, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kansas to urge lawmakers to close the casino smoking loophole and protect their constituents from secondhand smoke.”
According to the CDC report, casinos that allow indoor smoking recorded secondhand smoke levels 5.4 times higher than their nonsmoking counterparts. Unsafe levels of secondhand smoke were still present in the parts of the casinos where smoking was otherwise prohibited—72 percent higher than comparable areas in smoke-free casinos.
