Casinos Escape Smoking Ban

By Katie WIedemann, Reporter

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By Katie Wiedemann

Story Created: Apr 9, 2008 at 5:12 PM CST

Story Updated: Apr 9, 2008 at 5:33 PM CST

Dubuque - Casino managers in eastern Iowa are relieved their customers will be able to smoke while gambling.
But many of those casinos have bars and restaurants inside where gamblers won't be allowed to light up.
There are mixed opinions at the Dubuque Greyhound Park and Casino. Where someone stands on the smoking ban issue depends on where they sit on the gaming floor.
Non-smoker James Peacock said, “You sit next to a person or you sit in the same row as that person you get all that smoke, you have to wave it away or ask them to put their cigarette someplace else.”

For others it's nice to enjoy a smoke while hitting the slots.
James Jenkins of Cedar Rapids said, “I know I should be quitting smoking as it is, but I do off and on especially when I am gambling.”

Managers here at the casino say if it weren't for the casino floor exemption the smoking ban would have caused a loss in profit. That's if smokers chose to gamble elsewhere.
Manager Bruce Wentworth said, “Had that not happened we would have been at an extreme disadvantage with all the Native American Tribal Casinos that we're surrounded by that we assume would not have that kind of restriction.”

Now Wentworth is thinking about how he'll enforce the ban in the restaurant and public areas of the facility.
Crews built this Casino with a two point five million dollar air filtration system. The idea is to protect customers and employees from second hand smoke.

Wentworth said, “It’s got high ceilings open grid ceilings and an air filtration system that filters the air in four different kind of ways.”

But gamblers like Peacock who can't stand the smoke say the air filters don't get all the smoke out. He wishes the new law didn't exclude his favorite place to play.

Peacock said, “It probably would have helped a lot of other people because second hand smoke is bad.”
But he says he'll sit here, hoping for a change, until he can no longer stand it.

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