A new ordinance in Atlantic City bans smoking on three-quarters of casino gambling floors and all other indoor public spaces, the Associated Press reported Feb. 7.

Under a measure passed on a 6-3 vote by the City Council, casinos will only be allowed to permit smoking in 25 percent of their gaming areas after April 15. The measure was a compromise; the original measure called for a complete smoking ban in casinos, but that was opposed by the city's casino industry.

"I think it really stinks -- it literally stinks," said Rona Bavuso, a casino cocktail waitress who said her health has been affected by breathing secondhand smoke. "Every other restaurant, every other business, every other public place in New Jersey gets to breathe clean air except us." Added Helen Turano, a casino floor supervisor: "I think we should have the same rights as everyone else. We give up a lot to work here: Every Christmas, every Easter, every Thanksgiving. We shouldn't have to give up our health, too."

Casino Association of New Jersey head Joseph Corbo Jr. said it would be up to his members to figure out "how each can best comply with the ordinance in a manner that allows our casinos to continue to offer gaming opportunities to our many customers who smoke that also addresses the concerns of our valued employees." Smoking areas are expected to be walled off from other gaming areas and equipped with powerful ventilation systems.

Antismoking advocates said they would keep fighting for a total ban. "This is not an employee protection act," said Regina Carlson, executive director of the New Jersey Group Against Smoking Pollution (GASP), which released a report saying that ventilation systems provided inadequate protection from secondhand smoke. "Frankly, right now, it looks like a casino protection act."