Philadelphia would fall, then Pittsburgh and then the rest of the state.

While recent maneuvering in Harrisburg could result in a setback, Gegaris remains optimistic. One domino is down. The rest have to follow.

“It’s long overdue,” the head of the Luzerne County Tobacco Free Coalition said of a smoking ban in Pennsylvania. “Now it’s just a matter of time.”

Years of wrangling over a smoking ban in Philadelphia’s public places, from bars and restaurants to sports stadiums and office buildings, finally ended two weeks ago as a smoking ban became law in the state’s largest city.

Allegheny County has tried to follow suit, approving a smoking ban in public places by 14-1 vote last week.

Proving the issue is not an easy one to tackle, though, Allegheny’s efforts may go for naught.

The Pennsylvania Senate has approved a raft of amendments to the state’s gambling law, among them a provision that would exempt casinos from local ordinances such as bans against smoking. The state House will consider the same amendments in coming days.

Uncertainty about what direction the legislature will take has Allegheny County’s chief executive, Dan Onorato, mulling a veto of his county’s smoking ban.

“The potential for having a casino exempt from our local smoking ban would create an unfair situation,” said Kevin Evanto, a spokesman for Onorato. Onorato has until Thursday to decide but he plans to meet with legislators in the interim, Evanto said.

Talk of smoking bans often results in highly-charged debates, as health advocates say such measures are needed to protect non-smokers and employees from the known dangers of second-hand smoke. Bar and restaurant association trade groups, generally, say smoking bans represent an intrusion of personal freedom and will result in a loss of business as smokers go elsewhere.

While there has been some shift in thinking among former opponents, the debate is far from settled.

The Pennsylvania Restaurant Association recently changed its mind and now openly supports statewide restrictions in the interests of restaurant workers’ health.

“It was a big decision for us because it was a change from our long-held position,” said Patrick Conway, the association’s chief executive.

The key, however, is that a ban must be uniform, he said.

“We think the right approach would be to have a statewide ban that’s comprehensive and at the same time ensures businesses are operating on a level playing field in terms of competitive situation,” Conway said. “That’s what we support.”

Excluding casinos from any smoking regulation goes against that belief.

State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Willow Grove, has been trying for a decade to get a new Clean Indoor Air Act approved in Pennsylvania that would abolish smoking in workplaces.

While he can’t say when it will happen, he thinks the timing is finally right.

“Public opinion is firmly behind it,” he said. “The polls are 70 to 80 percent in favor.”

And if Greenleaf has any say about it, casinos will not be carved out of the law.

New Jersey’s smoking ban exempted Atlantic City casinos. That created an unfair situation for other bars and restaurants in that state that had to comply, the Pennsylvania Tavern Association claimed in a position statement to state legislators.

“If it is truly about employee safety, are the employees of a casino not as important as the health of other employees?” asked Amy Christie, executive director of the association.

Christie’s group maintains its opposition to smoking bans, though, saying such bans hurt “mom and pop” business owners. If casinos will be exempted from smoking, Christie said, “Then I would certainly hope they would let the bars and restaurants that are adult establishments with adult clientele make adult decisions about the use of a legal product.”

Casinos in New York state were not spared from the state’s restrictions on smoking, and some say it has a noticeable effect.

“The conventional wisdom in the industry is there is a significant disadvantage to not having smoking available in a casino environment,” said Charles Degliomini, spokesman for Empire Resorts Mighty M Gaming in Monticello, N.Y. “That said, there are a lot of our patrons who are very appreciative of the fact we do host a smoke-free facility.”

Highlighting the impacts of the smoking bans, Degliomini said Indian casinos in Canada, which are on sovereign property, have seen an uptick in business since Canada snuffed out smoking. Empire Resorts is nearing a deal to operate an Indian casino for the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe in Monticello, meaning a Monticello casino may some day be able to permit patrons to smoke.

State Rep. Todd Eachus, D-Hazleton, was one of 14 members of the House Health and Human Services Committee to block moving a statewide ban on smoking to the House floor recently. The committee deadlocked 14-14.

While he knows he’s in the minority, Eachus said he remains concerned about personal rights. He supports an alternative proposal that would regulate smoking by creating licensed smoking establishments. Under the proposal, a bar or restaurant would have to pay $500 for a state license to offer smoking, post themselves conspicuously as a smoking establishment, and pay unemployment compensation claims for any employee who doesn’t want to work in a smoking environment.

“The reality of that was that many of us think there should be somewhere indoors where smokers would have the right to smoke,” he said. “(But) If a smoking ban wins the day, then it should be a 100 percent smoking ban.”

Source: Citizen’s Voice

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