Update on the Atlantic City Casino Smoking Ban..

It seems where ever you turn something is amiss. Whether it be the housing market, the stock market, the oil market, consumer confidence, etc, etc, etc, things aren't good. This leads me to a follow up on a discussion I started a few days ago in another post. Currently Atlantic City is preparing to pass legislation that will entirely ban smoking in all casinos. The case has been fought hard by public interest groups, health groups and employee advocacy groups. In the post I made sure to mention how much I truly sympathize with the destructive nature of smoking and the undeniable link between it and lung cancer and other fatal diseases. The casino employees further assert that having to work in an environment where patrons smoke makes them helpless to avoid the second hand effects. Further, legislative proponents make the argument that b/c New Jersey has a smoking ban in effect for all public buildings since April of 2005 that casinos shouldn't be exempt.

Here's the reality once and for all. When Atlantic City made the infamous decision to legalize casino gambling whether it was acknowledged or not, that a certain acceptance of what kind of market this would create, who was targeted and the ancillary side effects that come with casino gambling is not correlated with God fearing people at a quiet sleepy seaside town. It means attracting and serving people that thrive on excitement, risk, late nights, extravagance and quite frankly vice. Recently states such as Delaware and Pennsylvania have legalized casino gaming. Between this new competition and hampering legislation such as the smoking ban, the effects have been almost predictable. In the past year, every month has shown casino industry performance in Atlantic City down from the year before. As the employees chant for this smoking ban, they may not realize it, but they are also possibly chanting the loss of their livelihood.

I never thought that the casinos in Atlantic City could ever face negative effects. Obviously I was wrong. Everyone should take a step back and really think and analyze this situation. This is  a critical time for Atlantic City. The steps taken in the next few months will set a tone, good or bad, for a long time to come.