Smoking law still needs one fix

The Gazette Editorial Board

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This week marked the fifth anniversary of Iowa's hard-won Clean Indoor Air Act, which banned smoking in bars and restaurants.

And while the law may still have its detractors, one thing is certain: Their dire predictions about how the ban would negatively affect businesses have not come true.

Most businesses not only survived, they attracted new customers grateful to be able to go out on the town without exposing themselves to clouds of unhealthy tobacco smoke and coming home smelling like an ashtray.

Employees no longer have to work entire shifts shrouded in smoke. Public health officials report that tobacco-related health problems have substantially declined. Smokers have adjusted to the new rules. All in all, the ban has worked as intended.

Researchers have called the ban and a $1-per-pack increase in cigarette tax two of the most effective public health measures the state has ever enacted, crediting them with a significant drop in tobacco-related hospitalizations and about $240 million in hospital costs averted.

In fact, we have only one criticism of the 5-year-old ban: The casino exemption.

It's time for legislators to remove the exemption, questionable in the first place, and require casinos to abide by the smoking ban as other entertainment venues do.

It's not fair that casino patrons and employees should have to endure the stench of tobacco smoke, or risk their health through long-term exposure to the same.

It's also unfair to bars and restaurants that have to comply with the law, while nearby casinos do not.

Casino employees and patrons deserve the same protections as those of bars and restaurants.

Removing the exemption wouldn't be easy - it took years of advocacy and debate to pass the Clean Indoor Air Act in place today - but it would be fair.

If that's not reason enough for legislators to cut the casino exemption, we'd like to see operators take the initiative to do the right thing - starting with the proposed casino in Cedar Rapids.

The last five years should be evidence enough to show that businesses cannot only survive the transition to smoke-free, but can thrive.

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