Tuesday, October 28 2008
Frances Johnson took a deep breath of air and declared her surroundings to be smoke-free. Then she nodded at a sign resting on top of a slot machine that stated, "No smoking permitted."
Why, then, was Johnson, a nonsmoker, so unhappy?
"If they want to go somewhere else to smoke, that's fine. But I don't want them here with me," she said, bluntly.
Johnson is dreading Nov. 16, the day Atlantic City's temporary casino smoking ban will end and all of the cigar-chomping, cigarette-puffing gamblers will return to the gaming floor. Before, it was the smokers who were complaining because of the ban. Now, the nonsmokers are incensed following City Council's
5-4 vote Monday night to lift the smoking restrictions.
Johnson, of New York, was playing a penny slot machine Tuesday at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. Just steps away was a glass-enclosed smoking lounge - segregated from the slot machines and table games - where smokers are currently confined.
Nonsmokers Complain About Lifting of Casino Smoking Ban continues...
