Colorado Casino Continues Smoking After Ban Deadline
The Colorado ban on smoking in casinos went into effect on January 1st, and the furor before the ban was imposed is nothing compared to the battles that will be fought now. One casino in Black Hawk has refused to ask customers to refrain from lighting up. The Wild Card Saloon and Casino still is permitting smoking on the premises, even though the bill expanding non-smoking rules that already existed in state bars and restaurants to include casinos is now law. Owner Ed Smith cites an exception built into the law which allows smoking in establishments classified as cigar bars.
According to Smith, the casino sells more than $50,000 worth of tobacco products annually, which is the qualification for the label "cigar bar". Smith stated, "We are following the letter of the law. We are in compliance with the law, the way the law is written."
Casinos throughout the state have been less than enthused with the smoking ban, pointing out the declines in revenues suffered by other casinos in jurisdictions that passed anti-smoking legislation.
Even though the Wild Card Casino is a small operation, with only 440 slot machines, the refusal to administer the smoking ban has drawn the ire of non-smoking fanatics. Stephanie Steinberg, chairman of Smoke-Free Gaming of Colorado, disregards the distinction that White has made, arguing that, regardless of the legal defintions established by the law, "It's not a cigar bar, it's a casino and we expect them to be compliant with the law."
Steinberg makes the point that if the Wild Card is allowed to continue their smoking policy, their "act of defiance" might soon be followed by other casinos. It seems that groups such as Steinberg's are not happy following the letter of the laws they themselves lobbied into existence. Hopefully, other casinos will follow suit and resist the efforts of special-interest organizations to regulate the behavior of others.
