Lawmakers in Pennsylvania and West Virginia are reconsidering the exemptions given casinos in laws banning smoking in all indoor locations open to the public.
In Pennsylvania, state Rep. Mario Scavello and Senator Stewart Greenleaf are sponsoring bills to extend the indoor smoking ban to casino floors. In West Virginia, local health officials in Wheeling County and Hancock County have introduced ordinances that would supersede that state’s casino smoking exemption, meaning smoking would be band in the Wheeling Island and Mountaineer casinos.
In an interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Scavello rejected arguments that a casino smoking ban would hurt business. “If everybody’s on the same page, then it won’t decimate the casino,” he said. “If Pennsylvania was the leader, everybody else will follow suit… I think it might even help us. There are folks who want to gamble but don’t want to gamble in a smoking environment.”
In West Virginia, a local ban for Wheeling Island and Mountaineer would join similar local smoking bans in place for the Charles Town and Mardi Gras casinos.
