Atlantic City's Ordinances on Smokefree Casinos - History

Updated October 21, 2009

Click here to read the NJ Star-Ledger's October 21 Editorial in support of 100% smokefree casinos in Atlantic City.

For more information on smokefree casinos in general, the need to protect employees and patrons, and comprehensive supporting empirical data, go to the home page of this site (www.njgasp.org) and click on "Smokefree gaming".

For a list of smokefree gaming jurisdictions in North America, click here. For a list of smokefree gaming jurisdictions across the globe, click here.

October 2009 - The Atlantic City council Revenue and Finance Committee is required to review Ordinance #95, which took effect on October 27, 2008. This Ordinance reinstated smoking on 25% of the gaming floors after the casinos had already been smokefree for a month. Economic reasons were cited but have not proven true. Click here to read the letter GASP sent to the Council for the review. Click here to see a summary of 2008 monthly casino revenue as reported by the NJ Casino Control Commission.

Click here to contact the Atlantic City Council and Mayor, to share your concerns about the hazards of secondhand smoke on the gaming floors.

As of November 16, 2008, smoking is again allowed on the gaming floors of the Atlantic City casinos. According to Ordinance #95, which Atlantic City's City Council passed on October 27 to amend Ordinance #86 (which passed on January 24, 2007 and took effect on April 15, 2007), the casinos can designate up to 25% of their gaming floors as smoking permitted, just as it was prior to October 15. Ordinance #95 does not even require automatic reinstatement of Ordinance #27, which required smokefree gaming floors. This means that #95 could keep smoking in the casinos indefinitely, according to Section 1 of #95, which states that after one year, the Revenue and Finance Committee will review the situation.

From October 15 - November 15, 2008, the casinos gaming floors were required to be 100% smokefree with the exception of separately enclosed and ventilated non-staffed smoking lounges as per Ordinance #27. On October 15, 2008, a press conference comprised of casino dealers, NJ GASP, other tobacco control advocates, and the United Auto Workers Union, marked a historic milestone in casino workplace conditions in Atlantic City, the third highest gaming revenue producer in the world. Atlantic City gaming floors, where employees work, went 100% smokefree; casinos were permitted to maintain separately enclosed and ventilated non-staffed smoking lounges for patrons, on the gaming floors. Click here to view NJ GASP’s October 15 press release.

As of October 15, casino workers reported no confusion with implementing the new smoking restrictions.  Initial implementation transitioned smoothly at 12:01 am on October 15. Click here for the October 15 Press of Atlantic City article. Click here for the October 16 Press of Atlantic City article about the smooth transition after the ban went into effect.

Even with this positive feedback, the casinos voted to bring back smoking on the gaming floors.  Some of the casinos who pushed for this did not even opt to build smoking lounges on their gaming floors, but seven out of ten casinos built smoking lounges that opened on October 15, and two more casinos had plans to build these smoking lounges.  On October 8, the City Council voted 5-4, in favor of proposed ordinance #16-H (renumbered after the first reading to #95), which allows smoking to return to the gaming floors. 

On October 14, 2008, the day before implementation of Ordinance #27, the Atlantic City Council decided to hold a special meeting on October 27, to vote on the second reading of proposed ordinance #95 (formerly #16-H). The original meeting to vote on second/final reading of #95  was scheduled for October 22, but one of #95’s sponsors was out of town on October 22.

The second and final reading of proposed ordinance #95 occurred on October 27 at 5 pm, at Atlantic City’s City Hall. The vote was 5-4 in favor of ordinance #95 to return smoking to the gaming floors. Mayor Evans signed the ordinance into law that evening, and it took effect 20 days later on November 16 at 12:01AM. The final result is that the casino workers had smokefree gaming floors from October 15 - November 15 but now smoking is permitted again on up to 25% of the gaming floor as it was prior to October 15.

See below for some links to stories from area newspapers:

Click here to read the November 18, 2008 NY Times editorial in favor of smokefree casinos in Atlantic City.
Click here to read the November 17 and here to read the November 15 Press of Atlantic City articles on the return of smoking to the casinos, and here to read the November 16, 2007 Courier Post Online article.
Click here to read the October 24 AP article entitled "Atlantic City dealers push to keep smoking ban".
Click here to read the Courier Post October 23 article entitled "No drop-off at casinos despite smoking ban" and click here to read the Courier Post October 25 article entitled "Smoking ban's effect a cloudy issue".

City Council President William Marsh in an Associated Press article: "It is the law right now... we won't be scrambling around to try to change the date." Click here to view the AP article. Click here to view a cartoon from the Press of Atlantic City, October 11, 2008.

The Star-Ledger editorial board issued an editorial on October 7, to support smokefree gaming floors for the workers. Click here for the editorial.

Click here for a description of the intensity of the October 8 City Council meeting, according to the October 9 article in the Press of Atlantic City. Click here for the October 8 article from the Press of Atlantic City, leading up to the October 8 City Council meeting. Click here for the October 9 article by Press of Atlantic City, about what casino gamblers think about the delay.

Click here for the October 9 article on Philly.com entitled "Clean air in AC casinos may be lost to econ crisis". Click here for an article from the Philadelphia Inquirer discussing the delay, or click here for the Las Vegas Sun article as it relates to Nevada's smokefree initiative.

Click here for a supporting editorial from October 8 posted on NJ.com, and one published in the Star Ledger.

In September of 2008 the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority released their 2008 Visitors Profile Study, of Atlantic City visitors. One of the key findings is that nonsmokers spend more money in Atlantic City than smokers, based on a median amount ($500 for nonsmoker vs. $469 for smoker). Click here to read the Executive Summary.

On April 30, 2008, Atlantic City Mayor Evans signs Ordinance #27, which requires 100% smoke-free casino gaming floors where employees work. To view the final ordinance, click here. Within the hour, the media announced a press release from Mr. Larry Mullin, the President of the Borgata, announed that the Borgata will become the first Atlantic City casino to go 100% smokefree in the fall, and will construct outdoor smoking areas for its smoking patrons. To view the Borgata press release, click here. To view the article from the Press of Atlantic City, click here.

April 30, 2008 New Jersey GASP press release, to view click here.

April 24, 2008: Atlantic City ordinance for smoke-free casino gaming floors passed by City Council. Click on a newspaper to view the related story: New York Times, Star Ledger, Philadelphia Inquirer, Press of Atlantic City, Las Vegas Sun.

New Jersey GASP Press release, April 23, 2008: Atlantic City to require 100% smoke-free casino gaming floors where employees work, to view click here.

On April 23, 2008, Atlantic City Council, on second reading, voted unanimously, 9-0, in favor of Ordinance #27, which amends Ordinance #86. To see Ordinance #86, click here. Ordinance #27 requires that on October 15, 2008, all casino gaming floors be smokefree where employees work. Casinos may construct nongaming smoking lounges, that are non-staffed, and separately enclosed and ventilated, on up to 25% of the gaming floor. Mayor Evans has 20 days from the date of the vote of the second reading of Ordinance #27 to sign the ordinance. Councilmen Bruce Ward, Gene Robinson, George Tibbitt, and Stephen L. Moore are the prime sponsors of Ordinance #27.

The first reading of Ordinance #27, introduced as Ordinance #5-A took place on April 9, 2008, and the City Council voted unanimously 9-0 in favor. The original proposed 5-A provided a 90-day effective date, but October 15, 2008 became the effective date agreed upon by City Council at the Ordinance's first reading, on April 9, 2008. On March 26, both Councilmen Ward and Tibitt expected to introduce a similar proposed amendment at that council meeting, but the proposed amendment was tabled until the April 9 hearing.

The original Ordinance #86, that took effect on April 15, 2007, required that the casinos submit applications to the NJ Department of Community Affairs by September 15, 2007, if casinos wanted to build smoking rooms on up to 25% of the gaming floor.

The original Ordinance #86 took effect on April 15, 2007, and allows smoking on up to 25% of the gaming floor (it passed 6-3 on February 7, 2007). Since Ordinance #86 continued to expose workers and patrons to secondhand smoke on the gaming floors, on June 19, 2007, the Atlantic City City Council unanimously enacted a resolution that "recommends and urges the NJ State Legislature to become more aggressively involved with amending the New Jersey Smoke Fee Air Act, N.J.S.A. 26:3D-55, to include language which prohibits smoking 100% in all Atlantic City Casinos." To view resolution, click here.

For information on problems with the original Ordinance #86 that took effect on April 15, 2007, click here. On February 15, 2007, syndicated columnist Steve Adubato, Ph.d, wrote a column to support 100% smokefree gaming floors, subsquent to Atlantic City's City Council passing their ordinance that permits smoking on up to 25% of the gaming floor. Click here to read, "A 75 Percent 'Smoke Free Zone' in Casinos? Only in New Jersey".

Here's more info on the original Ordinance #86 that took effect on April 15, 2007, and the process:

Atlantic City original Ordinance #86, that took effect on April 15, 2007, did not protect employees and patrons. Here's why:

• The casinos can designate up to 25% of the gaming areas as smoking, with no physical barriers. Smoking-permitted areas are scattered throughout the nonsmoking sections. Air testing in casinos in New York and Ontario that have (had) designated sections shows that smoke permeates the nonsmoking areas. To see the summary of the scientific study, click here.
  
  
• The New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act (SFAA) already requires the casinos to make non-gaming areas nonsmoking, but there is a well-documented history of poor compliance with the SFAA by the casinos (click here for a report). Reports by NJGASP testers show that the 75-25 split results in similar noncompliance.
  
  
• The ordinance says casinos must ultimately enclose smoking sections with walls and install separate ventilation for the smoking areas, but that requirement has no deadline. Since the enactment date of April 15, 2007, not one casino has begun to build a separately enclosed and ventilated smoking room.
  
  
• If the separate smoking sections are created, they may be even more polluted than the current gaming areas (because pollution is a function of smoking density and because no ventilation can eliminate the tobacco smoke pollution hazard). For the results of air testing in casinos in Rhode Island that have walled and separately-ventilated sections, click here.
  
  
• Employees are at risk to be assigned to these smoking sections on any shift, even on every shift. While the ordinance limits the smoking-permitted areas to no more than 25% of the floor area, casinos may assign more than 25% of employees to work in these areas; casinos may place table games, that require more employees, in the smoking area and may fill the nonsmoking areas with slot machines. Furthermore, people who smoke might avoid gaming in the extra-polluted smoking section, but then use the smoking section just to smoke, thereby increasing the pollution.
  
  
• The ordinance creates many personnel problems for employees and casinos. It may pit employee against employee in their efforts to avoid working in the smoking sections. Casinos may offer employees incentives to work in these smoking sections, and employees who accept those incentives may be those who are least informed about secondhand smoke hazards or most desperate to keep their jobs. It is not clear what actions casinos may take against employees who refuse to work in the smoking areas.

There were seven public hearings by the Council at which there were numerous and passionate requests from casino workers for smokefree casinos, backed by numerous and authoritative presentations of supporting information from public health professionals. Every hearing drew several hundred people, filling the Council chamber. There were far fewer public statements of opposition to smokefree casinos and the casinos made only a few public statements in that forum. On the first three votes for the measures, the Council voted unanimously for smokefree casinos. However, the measure was tabled on December 29, 2007 for fact-finding hearings, which took place in January.

On Monday, January 22, two days before the final passage was expected, it was reported in the news media that the Council had met with the casinos privately and that the 75-25 measure would be introduced and was expected to pass. No casino workers or public health professionals were informed of these meetings or allowed to participate.

On Wednesday, January 24, at the Atlantic City Council meeting, over the protests of the workers and advocates, many of whom said they'd rather have no ordinance than the amended ordinance 86, the Council voted 6 to 3for the amended ordinance, publicly stating this was, in part, to avoid a lawsuit from the casinos. Final vote was February 7. The mayor signed the ordinance, and the ordinance took effect on April 15, 2007.