While New Jersey legislators supposedly have the votes to ban smoking inside of Atlantic City’s casinos — and Gov. Phil Murphy said he’d sign that bill should it reach his desk — New Jersey voters might prefer that lawmakers instead just pass the ashtray.
That’s the indication from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s recent FDU Poll, which found that 57% of New Jersey residents surveyed would prefer to leave well enough alone and smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. Currently, smoking is allowed in designated areas inside the casinos. Conversely, 29% of residents would like to see smoking banned outright within the casinos, and another 12% of residents would prefer to see the casinos turned into Marlboro County, with no limits as to where one might light up.
Smoking was banned in most indoor areas in Atlantic City in 2006, but an exception allows about one-quarter of casino floor real estate to have smoking. Interestingly, support to leave things the way they are hasn’t wavered all that much since the last time FDU asked this question 13 years ago. In fact, there’s more support today to leave thing the way they are than in 2009, when 35% of respondents said smoking should be banned outright.
“This is a balancing act,” said Dan Cassino, an FDU professor of government and politics who is the poll’s executive director. “Smoking bans protect workers from secondhand smoke, but no one wants to risk hurting the casino’s bottom lines and having to bail out Atlantic City. Again.”
Somewhat surprisingly, 42% of those over 65 prefer a full ban, according to the poll, while only 14% of younger Garden State residents would like to see smoking completely snuffed out.
The results of the FDU Poll were also pretty firm on the idea of casino expansion in New Jersey outside of Atlantic City: Voters would prefer it doesn’t happen.
While 37% of residents are in favor of expansion — which perhaps would occur at the Meadowlands — a slim majority, 51%, would like to see casino gambling stay exclusively in Atlantic City.
“Competition from new casinos opening soon in New York City and the endless search for new sources of revenue mean that there’s a lot of pressure to open new casinos in Jersey,” said Cassino. “But if the state wants those casinos, they’re going to have to change a lot of minds.”
And those minds have been pretty well set for a while now.
FDU asked the same question in 2016, with opposition at 50% back then. A statewide referendum on expansion that year failed to win acceptance.
“Views of casino expansion in New Jersey have been crystallized for years,” said Cassino. “None of the arguments that have been made in favor of expansion have made any dent.”
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