Last Wednesday, with just a week to go before a full smoking ban was to take effect at Atlantic City’s casinos, City Council said it will consider delaying the order for a year, or until the economy improves.
Though smoking opponents showed up to make their displeasure felt–as they had every right and reason to do–it looks like City Council is going to make the difficult decision to opt for a continued partial ban, which restricts smoking to a quarter of the gaming floor.
A full ban was sure to cause a further drop in casino revenue, with gamblers who smoke vowing to head to casinos out of state. Atlantic City casinos saw an overall drop of 5.7 percent in revenue last year—the first decline in the industry’s history–and Borgata President Larry Mullin has reportedly projected a 15 percent decline for 2008.
City Council is right to rescind the ban, if only temporarily.
You have to give credit to UNITE-HERE Local 54 President Bob McDevitt, who also weighed the detrimental effects of tobacco against the overriding issue of jobs and economic stability.
“Smoking is not healthy,” McDevitt told the AC Press. “Smoking kills people. So does job loss, unemployment and the threat of foreclosure. People will lose their ability to feed their families.”As the industry here scrambles for ways to fend off competition from Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut, it’s vital to eliminate any obstacles to solvency. An ordinance to postpone the Atlantic City smoking ban faces a second reading before council on October 22.
–Marjorie Preston
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