Treat Iowa casinos like other firms

Publication Date: 2011-03-02

• Author:Journal Editorial
• Publication:Muscatine Journal

A state law passed in 2008 made it illegal to smoke in most public places, but state-licensed casinos were excluded from the law.

That could change this year following a renewed push by tobacco opponents who held a Capitol news conference and rally last month to support a pair of bills that would end the casino exemption. By Friday, those bills must be moved out of the committees in which they have been studied in order to stay alive this legislative session.

We opposed the smoking ban in 2008, saying it should be left up to business owners to decide what to do in their establishments. And in the years since the ban was put in place, it has struck us as unfair to set casinos apart.

If the state feels it must ban smoking in public places, it should do so everywhere. What's good for the goose, so to speak, is good for the gambler.