Atlantic City, NJ Casino Workers Testify in Favor of Smoking Ban

Atlantic City casino workers are moving forward on their mission to have smoking banned indoors where they work.

A number of casino employees, including Tammy Brady and Holly Diebler, testified Thursday in front of two New Jersey State Assembly committees in favor of a bill that would prohibit smoking inside all nine Atlantic City casinos, Associated Press reports.

Governor Phil Murphy vowed to sign the bill into law, but only if it passes the state Legislature, but the Assembly and Senate have yet to let it get that far.

Former Atlantic City Mayor now Assemblyman Don Guardian, spoke strongly in support of the bill, saying, "I don't want to take away your right to kill yourself by smoking. I do want to take away your right to kill someone else by smoking in a casino."

Both Tammy Brady and Holly Diebler have been diagnosed with cancer. While neither can say for sure that working in an environment among so much second-hand smoke, they can't help but wonder, according to AP's Wayne Parry.

Even after today's testimony, no vote on the issue was taken.

New Jersey's indoor smoking ban went into effect in 2006, but not for casino properties. Smoking has remained permitted on 25 percent of the Atlantic City casino floors.

While the bill continues to have many opponents concerned it would hurt Atlantic City casinos' bottom line, Associated Press noted a representative with Las Vegas-based C3 Gaming who said many casinos that have adopted a smoking ban, including those in Boston and Maryland, haven't suffered financially.

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