NORFOLK, Va. — There’s fresh drama over a seemingly old problem.
Shortly after it opened, complaints came rolling in on social media over smoking issues at the brand-new Rivers Casino Portsmouth.
After the backlash, Virginia’s first permanent casino changed its policy, making about 80% of the facility smoke-free.
But a lot of people raised questions about how smoking was allowed in the first place. The questions are probably because of a change that happened back in 2009.
In December of that year, the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act went into effect, banning smoking indoors at bars and restaurants.
At the time, it was a controversial change with a lot of opinions on both sides.
But since then, it’s become a welcome change for most Virginians.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 20% of adults smoked in 2009. That number has dropped to about 12.5%, according to the latest CDC data from 2020.
But if smoking was technically banned indoors more than 10 years ago, how is smoking allowed inside Rivers Casino Portsmouth at all?
Turns out, under Virginia law, smoking is permitted in casinos and facilities licensed to game.
Still, based on popular opinion alone, and what we’ve seen with the recent policy change at Rivers Casino Portsmouth, it doesn’t necessarily take a state law to keep smoking out of a new establishment.