NJ lawmaker behind Smoke-Free Air Act wants casino loophole ended

One of the lawmakers behind the Smoke-Free Air Act, which prohibits smoking in public places in New Jersey, has recently expressed support for closing a loophole that exempts casinos from the law’s enforcement.

Smoking needs to go from New Jersey casino floors

Loretta Weinberg, who helped coin the act, and has spearheaded its adoption, has now said that the time has come for Assembly Bill 3730, and its successor, SB1926, to finally end the exemption it has granted to casinos, meaning ban smoking on gaming floors much like it has in most public and workplaces.

Weinberg shared her thoughts in an opinion piece published in The Star-Ledger where she reflected on the exemption. She argued that the casino exemption was not her original design, but rather the result of a fierce battle against third parties that represented big tobacco.

She fought and lost, Weinberg acknowledged, in making sure that cigars and cigarettes are snuffed out on casino floors, and that workers are better protected. In the end, Weinberg and other bill sponsors had to negotiate a hard-won compromise.

"We simply did not have the votes, so we acquiesced, trying to protect as many people as possible while expecting to close this unjustified loophole in the near future," Weinberg mused. However, she admitted that in agreeing to a temporary compromise, she never imagined that 20 years later, smoking would still be permitted on the premises of casino gaming floors.

Weinberg said that she remembers the tobacco industry’s line of attack well, claiming that these companies used fear and misinformation to stoke opposition against the proposal.

The evidence is growing that there is a lot of favoritism in public reporting on the issue, and Weinberg cited a report by the Surgeon General of the United States in which was described how the tobacco industry still uses third-party actors to advance its own agenda.

Enough momentum to finally kill smoking in New Jersey

However, Weinberg believes that a turning point in the fight against tobacco smoke on casino floors has finally arrived, with enough momentum to end the exemption and rid casino workers of the perilous impact of second-hand smoking.

The Casino Association of New Jersey and Unite Here Local 54 have been among the parties who have signaled that they are in favor of the move, although fears persist that turning away smokers might actually lead to job losses, which has surprisingly made some workers oppose the move.

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