A bill that would have made St. Louis County the first county in Missouri to ban smoking inside casinos has gone down to defeat. However, the county health department says new measures will narrow the options for smokers, both in and out of casinos.
As in many other jurisdictions, casinos were exempted from the county’s 2011 indoor smoking ban. Health officials lobbied to end the carveout earlier this year, and in May, the seven-member council “considered the proposal behind closed doors,” according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch. But it failed to find the necessary support among council members, said Christopher Ave, spokesman for the St. Louis County Department of Public Health.
At an August 1 meeting, lawmakers reviewed an alternate plan to maintain the casino exemption but enhance other regulations related to public smoking. The new bill would only allow smoking on 50 percent of a casino floor, and would also prohibit smoking of any kind on county property, indoors and outdoors, including county parks and areas around county buildings. It would apply to tobacco, marijuana and vaping.
Kanika Cunningham, MD, director of the health department, pushed to ban casino smoking because of the health risks for employees. Gaming company Penn National Entertainment, owner of the Hollywood Casino in Maryland Heights and the River City Casino in Lemay, said the restriction would have a negative impact on business.
