Following the COVID-19 outbreak, several indoor locations in the US, including casinos, enacted strict no-smoking regulations. The situation is changing, though, as several casinos take the risky step of reintroducing indoor smoking. Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs is one such establishment. It recently overturned a three-year smoking restriction, sparking controversy among both customers and opponents.
The Palm Springs Desert Sun reports that the Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs is one of the three Agua Caliente establishments that have chosen to bring back indoor smoking. This choice was made in response to several requests from customers. While the restriction has been loosened at one specific institution, Rancho Mirage and Cathedral City, two other Agua Caliente venues, are upholding the smoking prohibition.
The Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs has reinstated indoor smoking, but only for tobacco products like cigarettes and vape pens. Cigars and pipes are not permitted. While on the casino floor, visitors are permitted to engage in these activities, however they are not permitted in places like the sports bar and Cascade Lounge. Table gaming and dining rooms are still completely smoke-free places.
Mixed responses have been received by this activity. Smokers who visit the casino might be happy with the move, but a sizeable section of the crowd is still against it. Tim Sigle, a disappointed tourist, expressed his worries about smoking being allowed again on social media. Sigle criticized the action and expressed his concern about the possible health consequences of breathing in secondhand smoking. He invited people to file complaints against the casino’s smoking policy, emphasizing in particular the health of staff members who were made to inhale toxic air.
Sigle stressed the negative effects of uncontrolled smoking in enclosed environments and urged the establishment of separate designated smoking locations to accommodate smokers’ requirements. The argument over repealing the smoking prohibition at Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs highlights the intricate relationship between individual liberties, public health, and changing social norms in the post-pandemic era.
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