Smoking Ban in St. Louis County Casinos?

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis County Councilman Mike O’Mara plans to introduce legislation Tuesday to apply the St. Louis County smoking ban to county casinos.

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The article reports that O’Mara wants to remove all exemptions from the county's smoking ban, and that includes River City Casino and Hollywood Casino St. Louis.

O'Mara cited the health issue of smoke and was also quoted making the following statement in the Post-Dispatch article.

“My goal is to get this ordinance cleaned up so that everyone in the county is on a level playing field,” O’Mara, D-Florissant, said Friday. “I’ve heard from too many owners of bars and restaurants who have convinced me that it is unfair that some businesses have the exemption while others, sometimes located right up the street, don’t.”

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley reportedly supports eliminating the exemptions to the smoking ban.

According to the report, O’Mara plans to address the issue at Tuesday's St. Louis County Council meeting.

There are reportedly 135 establishments in the county that have exemptions from the smoking ban. 

The Post also interviewed Marty Ginsburg, the owner of the Sports Page in Chesterfield. Ginsburg had once been an opponent of the smoking ban but said he now favors eliminating all exceptions. 

Ginsburg told the Post that his health has improved since secondhand smoke vanished at his restaurant and that the legislative tweak would allow business to compete on a level-playing field. 

(Read the entire St. Louis Post-Dispatch article here.)