A long-standing proposal in New Jersey’s state Legislature would close the carveout in the Smokefree Air Act, and ban smoking in Atlantic City’s nine casinos. Gov. Phil Murphy has said he would sign the bill when it lands on his desk. There’s been some pushback against this, as some people worry that banning smoking in New Jersey casinos would send gamblers across the Delaware River.
Bob McDevitt leads the Unite Here Local 54, which represents more than 10,000 hospitality workers, many of them in Atlantic City. He says New Jersey should wait to ban smoking until Pennsylvania does, so New Jersey isn’t at a competitive disadvantage.
“If people opt not to go, that means they’re not staying in the hotel, that means there’s no reason to have them make the hotel beds. It won’t just have an effect on folks who are dealers, and folks who are bartenders,” said McDevitt.
When casinos re-opened during the pandemic, gamblers couldn’t smoke indoors for almost a full year. Co-founders of Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects Lamont White and Pete Naccarelli say gamblers were not dissuaded by a ban on smoking.
“They went outside like they do everywhere else, and then they came back in and played. I’ve seen gamblers – the gamblers will swim through a moat of alligators to get back to a blackjack table,” said White.
The smoking ban bill has enough sponsors and is expected to pass the state legislature and Senate.
