Missouri County Makes Attempt to Snuff Out Casino Smoke

Now, St. Louis County is the first in the Show Me State to send an unequivocal message on the matter and try to prohibit smoking on casino floors located in its bounds. This way, the county bucks the state-wide trend which still exempts casinos from the ban on smoking in public smoking.

Fighting Smoking On-Site Casinos in Missouri

The measure is still up for debate, however, and it will have to go through County Council first, but if it succeeds, it would be a seminal accomplishment. Effectively, St. Louis has not enforced the 2011 smoking ban on casinos, which has had an economic justification. Properties have long feared that restricting and putting a ban on indoor smoking would have an adverse effect on their bottom lines.

However, this claim has been challenged repeatedly over the past decade, with New Jersey and Nevada casino workers, as well as many other workers across the country, raising their voices and calling for a timely prohibition on smoking. One of the opponents of indoor smoking in casinos is county health department director Dr Kanika Cunningham who has argued that no modern ventilation system can minimize the risks bore by casino workers from inhaling second-hand smoke.

However, going on a per-county basis has some risks for St. Louis as well. The main qualm is that should the county become the only one to outlaw indoor smoking on casino floors, consumers may flock to neighboring counties instead. This makes some sense, although a similar argument has been made by people fearing state-wide bans.

Research Shows Business Intact in Wake of Smoke Bans

However, Cunningham cited a report by C3 Gaming, a Las Vegas company, which argued in a recent report that banning smoking is not tantamount to a loss of business for the casinos and companies that enforced such measures. There has been no drop in revenues for the companies covered by C3 Gaming’s case study.

However, C3 Gaming’s report has focused on tribal casino properties, which have been some of the most proactive properties when it comes to smoking as many have been reopening as smoke-free spaces in the wake of the pandemic, citing health fears for their communities.