Doubts have been raised about Macau’s long-term committment to smoke-free gaming floors amid claims there’s a loophole in a draft law being discussed in the Legislative Assembly.
Chinese-language Macao Daily reports that despite a government pledge to make casino floors totally free of cigarette smoke within three years of legislation, there appears to be a major get out for the industry.
Yesterday, Macau’s Health Bureau said there was what it described as a ‘typo’ (typographical error) in the latest draft of the smoke free law.
It was always intended for Macau casino operators to be given a year’s grace to implement changes. In Hong Kong, where public smoking was banned in January 2007, some bars, karaoke parlours, saunas and nightclubs were given until July 2009 to implement the new rules.
But Macao Daily says the bill currently before Macau’s Legislative Assembly only specifies that not more than 50% of a casino’s floor can be designated for smokers. It also stipulates that casinos should install partitions between smoking and non-smoking areas within the first year of the law.
Many European Union countries have passed anti public smoking laws on the presumption that the right of non-smokers to breathe smoke-free air outweighs the right of smokers to pursue their habit. Not all developed countries take the same view. In the United States, where the constitution and political tradition strongly support the rights of the individual, there is no national ban on public smoking-though some individual states have passed laws to control it. In Nevada however, attempts to introduce a smoking ban in casinos have so far been resisted.
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