State law since casinos were first allowed in Pennsylvania has permitted them to allow smoking in up to 50% of the facility, as an exception to a prohibition in most public spaces. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board issued an order Friday instructing casinos that due to coronavirus-related health and safety concerns, they should prohibit smoking on their gaming floors. COVID-19 has managed to do something that anti-tobacco forces in Pennsylvania have been unable to achieve for years: It has cleared the state’s casinos of smoking.
