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Lawmakers Consider Casino Smoke Rooms
(IRN)-It hasn't happened before, but the Illinois General Assembly may yet pass an exception to the three year old Smoke Free Illinois law.

One of the latest attempts would be to allow the state's casinos, who complain the nonsmoking way has cost them business, to build a separate "smoking room." Sponsoring State Representative Andre Thapedi says Smoke Free Illinois costs the state $200 million a year.

Before the House Executive Committee passed Thapedi's bill, the American Lung Association’s Kathy Drea debated committee chair State Rep. Dan Burke. Burke says since casinos were meant to help economically struggling communities, something should be done to restore revenues to cities such as East St Louis . Drea says Smoke Free Illinois is a workplace safety issue; that people should not subject themselves to secondhand smoke as a condition of employment.

Another nonsmoking advocate, Heather Eagleton of the American Cancer Society, says if lawmakers were really concerned about the budget, they would do more to wipe out smoking, citing $8.5 billion in health care costs and lost productivity annually in Illinois .

House Bill 1850 has passed the House Executive Committee.

(Illinois Radio Network)
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