Nonsmokers complain about smoking ban lift
29 October 2008ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey -- As reported by the Press of Atlantic City: "Frances Johnson took a deep breath of air and declared her surroundings to be smoke-free. Then she nodded at a sign resting on top of a slot machine that stated, 'No smoking permitted.'
"Why, then, was Johnson, a nonsmoker, so unhappy?
"'If they want to go somewhere else to smoke, that's fine. But I don't want them here with me,' she said, bluntly.
"Johnson is dreading Nov. 16, the day Atlantic City's temporary casino smoking ban will end and all of the cigar-chomping, cigarette-puffing gamblers will return to the gaming floor. Before, it was the smokers who were complaining because of the ban. Now, the nonsmokers are incensed following City Council's 5-4 vote Monday night to lift the smoking restrictions.
"...The City Council agreed to lift the smoking ban for at least a year to give the casinos more time to recover from the nation's economic crisis. Overall, gaming revenue at the city's 11 casinos dropped 19.5 percent in a seven-day span ending last Friday, according to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission..."
copyrighted material written for and appeared exclusively in The Press of Atlantic City