Atlantic City Council Delays Smoking Ban Vote

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - December 29, 2006 -- The Atlantic City Council delays a vote on a smoking ban. The ban would eliminate smoking inside Atlantic City's casinos.

The council was scheduled to consider the measure today, but put off a vote until January 24th.

An amendment to the ordinance to give the casinos more time to prepare for the casino smokeout.

The original proposal would have gone into effect 30 days after it was approved.

The new quit date is April 15th if the measure is approved by the council and signed by the mayor, who has indicated his support for the proposal.

April 15th marks the one-year anniversary of a statewide smoking ban that exempted the casinos.

Anti-smoking advocates have been trying to close the casinos' loophole since.

Councilman Eugene Robinson said the casinos had asked for a postponement of six months to a year.

Some speculate that the casinos will sue to stop the ban from taking effect.

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