Michigan House OKs smoking ban

Publication Date: 2009-05-27

• Author:CHRIS CHRISTOFF
• Publication:Detroit Free Press

Detroit's 3 casinos would get an exemption

The Michigan House voted Tuesday to ban smoking in workplaces including bars and restaurants, but to allow it on gambling floors at Detroit's three casinos, cigar bars and smoke shops.

The 73-31 vote set up another face-off with the Senate, which last year voted for a total smoking ban, no exceptions.

The smoking ban remains a hot issue, led by antismoking advocates encouraged by smoking bans approved in recent weeks in Wisconsin and North Carolina, a tobacco industry state where a smoking ban was once unimaginable.

But like last year, a stalemate looms again between Michigan's House and Senate over whether to allow smoking in Detroit's casinos. A state-imposed smoking ban would not affect American Indian-run casinos.