SMOKING RESTRICTIONS BEGIN AT ATLANTIC CITY CASINOS
The air inside Atlantic City's casinos was notably cleaner
yesterday, as a restrictive new smoking law took effect.
Well-placed signs let gamblers determine which areas were OK to
smoke in, and only a few patrons had to be reminded not to light
up in no-smoking areas.
The new law restricts smoking to no more than 25 percent of a
casino's floor. It went into effect yesterday, exactly a year
after New Jersey's Smoke-Free Air Act prohibited cigar,
cigarette and pipe smoking in restaurants, bars, private office
buildings and other indoor places.
"You could tell the difference,'' said Ida Valentin of Brooklyn,
N.Y. as she played the slot machines in a no-smoking section of
Bally's Atlantic City. "I noticed it as soon as I walked in.
There's not that smell anymore. I really think it's good.''
Smokers seemed to have few complaints as well.
