Banner Highlighting Smokefree AC Casinos to Fly Above Jersey Shore This Memorial Day Weekend
Banner Message: “Smokefree AC Casinos = Good for Business”
Atlantic City Casino Earnings Up 11% Compared With 2019
May 27, 2021
Contact: press@no-smoke.org
Atlantic City, NJ — Visitors to the Jersey Shore this Memorial Day Weekend will see the message that smokefree casino advocates are also delivering to Governor Phil Murphy and Senate President Steve Sweeney: “Smoke Free AC Casinos = Good for Business.” The plane banner will be visible from the boardwalk and the beach in Atlantic City.
The message comes after New Jersey casinos reported generating 11% greater profits while operating smokefree in the first quarter of 2021, compared with the same period in 2019.
“Atlantic City casinos have been thriving while operating smokefree,” said Bob Zlotnick, co-founder of Smoke Free AC. “Workers would be more willing to fill the many job openings if they knew they’d be spared secondhand smoke inside the casinos. Support for closing the casino loophole in state law is growing in the legislature. We’re urging the Governor and Senator Sweeney to back this bill to protect the well-being of casino guests and employees.”
“It’s good news that New Jersey casinos are thriving, and even better news that they’re doing so while ensuring a healthy environment for guests and workers,” said Cynthia Hallett, president and CEO of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. “The gaming industry should welcome smokefree policies and adjust to the new reality — COVID has changed everything, and guests strongly prefer to enjoy the entertainment experience casinos provide in a smokefree setting. There’s no good reason to turn back to the old ways of operating, and New Jersey’s elected leaders should ensure its casinos operate permanently smokefree.”
Background
This week, the push to make Atlantic City casinos smokefree gained fresh legislative support as six new state lawmakers have signed on as co-sponsors of legislation to close the casino loophole in state law. The new support for S1878/A4541 comes as the temporary smokefree casino policy in Atlantic City could soon expire. Closing the loophole would protect guests and workers alike from the well-established dangers of even brief exposure to secondhand smoke.
More and more casinos nationwide are going smokefree. At least 160 sovereign Tribal gaming venues have implemented 100% smokefree policies during COVID-19, 23 states require commercial casinos to be smokefree indoors, and nearly 1,100 gaming properties do not permit smoking indoors. Opinion research routinely, and increasingly, shows the vast majority of guests prefer smokefree indoor casinos. That’s not surprising considering that among young adults, 90 percent are nonsmokers.
ABOUT AMERICANS FOR NONSMOKERS’ RIGHTS
Americans for Nonsmoker’s Rights (ANR) is a member-supported, non-profit advocacy group that has been working for 45 years, since 1976, to protect everyone’s right to breathe nontoxic air in workplaces and public places, from offices and airplanes to restaurants, bars, and casinos. ANR has continuously shined a light on the tobacco industry’s interference with sound and life-saving public health measures and successfully protected 61% of the population with local or statewide smokefree workplace, restaurant, and bar laws. ANR aims to close gaps in smokefree protections for workers in all workplaces, including bars, music venues, casinos, and hotels. For more information, please visit https://no-smoke.org/ and https://smokefreecasinos.org/.
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