A movement is afoot to ban smoking in St. Louis County casinos and on county property, but it’s a measure whose time has not quite come as the bill failed to pass the County Council.
Efforts are underway to prohibit smoking at gambling sites in Missouri, particularly in St. Louis County casinos and on county property, yet the bill’s rejection by the County Council suggests its implementation may be premature.
Can St. Louis Kick the Habit?
Smoking bans in casinos are nothing new, and in fact, 20 states, including New York and Massachusetts, have already implemented legislation banning smoking in casinos. Many others, like Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods in Connecticut, have done so of their own volition even after the smoking ban during the pandemic was lifted.
However, when it comes to Missouri casinos, St. Louis is a bit late to the party and its attempt to ban smoking came up snake eyes as the County Council voted against it. However, a new bill that seeks a compromise could gain traction next year once the Council has had time to scrutinize it.
Council Chair, Shalonda Webb, updated the bill to say the following, “…up to 50% of the area of a state-licensed gambling facility where gaming is allowed for those twenty-one (21) years of age or older, including any VIP lounge accessible only through the game floor, whether or not gaming is allowed in the VIP lounge.”
As stated, this new bill would remove the smoking exemption its casinos now enjoy and would instead propose those facilities designate up to 50% of their casino floors to be smoke-free. But the devil is in the details as the operative term is “up to” which could be construed as less than 1% of the casino floor or as much as half.
Casinos Nationwide Snuffing Out Smoking
The push to ban smoking in casinos has taken effect all over the country but there are still holdouts, as we see in St. Louis. The health, safety, and welfare of casino employees and its patrons are at stake as second-hand smoke does pose a health risk according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in a statement that said the following:
“The level of smoking in a casino can be especially high compared with other enclosed public places where smoking is permitted. For example, one study revealed that 50% of the casinos sampled had air pollution levels known to cause cardiovascular disease after only 2 hours of exposure.”
Shifting Dynamics
Nevertheless, the casino operators cite studies that state the majority of their revenues come from older gamblers who like to pull on a Marlboro while they are pulling on the slot machines.
Additionally, public opinion against smoking in casinos has risen as evidenced by data presented from a 2021 Meczka Marketing Research Consulting (MMRC) study on Smoking vs. No smoking in Casinos conducted at Pacific Northwest Tribal casinos which showed 54% opposed smoking before the pandemic and in the most recent survey, that number has climbed to 66%.
We have already seen voluntary compliance by some casino operators and others who are willing to go along to get along.
“The old paradigm used to be: Well, smokers play more,” said John Cirrincione, the chief executive of the Santa Ana Star Casino Hotel in New Mexico, who eliminated smoking at his facility after the onset of the pandemic. “But that’s years of excluding a large part of the public who don’t want to come into a smoky casino.”
“I’m a little guy out in the middle of a desert,” he added. “I’m not going to set the trend, but I don’t have to accept it. If Atlantic City made the move, it would definitely push nonsmoking forward.”
Calculators
