16-05-2025
‘We're here for health': Kanawha-Charleston health board denies indoor smoking exemption for casinos
Tom Baldwin downloads a sports betting app onto his phone after the opening of the sports betting bar at Mardi Gras Casino & Resort in December 2018. The Kanawha-Charleston Board of Health voted down an amendment to its clean indoor air regulations that would have permitted casinos in the county to allow indoor cigarette smoking in 10% of the square footage of their establishment. (Chris Dorst | Charleston Gazette-Mail)
The Kanawha-Charleston Board of Health voted down an amendment to its clean indoor air regulations on Thursday that would have permitted casinos in the county to allow indoor cigarette smoking in 10% of the square footage of their establishment.
The amendment was proposed by board member Jessica Hudson. It would have only applied only to gambling establishments, where 10% of the square footage would have been exempt to the clean air regulations. Any business that allowed indoor smoking, according to the amendment, would have needed to install a special ventilation system and would have been barred from serving food in the area with smoking.
Board members voted 4-2 against the amendment.
Mardi Gras Casino and Resort, in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, proposed the exemption for the clean indoor air regulations to the county board of health in October 2024. In its presentation to the health board, representatives for Mardi Gras said they were losing business to a new casino in Ashland, Kentucky — about an hour's drive away from Mardi Gras — where smoking was allowed in some areas.
... this is not a chamber of commerce. We're here for health.
– Dr. Dara Aliff-Lao
'Reading the financial impact certainly was impactful to me in terms of how it affects the community. But that said, this is not a chamber of commerce. We're here for health,' said Dr. Dara Aliff-Lao, an OBGYN by trade, who voted against the amendment. 'I just feel like it would send the wrong message for a health department to rescind anything. I feel like once we start eroding things, they go away completely. We've seen that time and time again in other aspects of health.'
Hudson and Board President Jeremy Nelson were the only two board members to vote in support of loosening the county's indoor smoking regulations. Joining Aliff-Lao against the amendment were nurses Lillian Morris and Danita Nellhaus and Dr. Art Rubin.
Hudson, who works as the executive director of Business Strategy & Analytics at Vandalia Health Network, declined an interview following the board's vote on Thursday.
Nelson, an executive at Moses Auto Group by trade, called into the meeting virtually Thursday and as such was not available for an interview.
During the meeting, Nelson said that he believed a 'carveout' was needed in the county's clean indoor air regulations to help Mardi Gras stay competitive against Sandy's Racing & Gaming in Ashland.
'I think this is certainly a carveout and I think that this organization [Mardi Gras] has a huge, huge impact, on our community,' Nelson said. 'They are at a disadvantage and I think they've proven that the amount of people's money that's going across the state line to Ashland [in Kentucky] right now is alarming.'
But Aliff-Lao and Nellhaus told the press following the meeting that the health risks aren't worth it.
Employees, Nellhaus said, would be constantly exposed to second- and third-hand smoke. This could put people who are unaware they were pregnant as well as those with certain medical conditions especially at risk.
'Mardi Gras did a good job as far as their presentation, but I think I have to say — no matter what they've said — I just understand the implications,' Nellhaus said. 'I mean, I'm a health care professional. I just think that totally outweighs anything that they would offer.'
Aliff-Lao pointed out that smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the nation.
In West Virginia, nearly a quarter of residents — the highest rate in the nation, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — report using tobacco products. Lung cancer diagnosis rates here outpace that of every other state. After heart disease — which is also exacerbated by smoking — cancer is the leading cause of death in West Virginia, and lung cancer deaths occur more frequently than any other cancer related death.
The vote Thursday followed a 30-day public comment period, where members of the public were urged to voice their opinion on opening up the county's clean air regulations.
Lalena Price, public information officer for KCHD, provided a copy of those comments to West Virginia Watch upon request. Out of 36 comments received, only five seemed to support allowing smoking in the county's casinos. Comments against the amendment came from casino patrons, the American Heart Association, former smokers and more.
Aliff-Lao and Nellhaus both said they were sympathetic to Mardi Gras' economic concerns. The presentation shared with the board in October alleged that the casino's market share was down to 32.8% in 2024 versus the 41.2% it held at the end of 2023.
'Mardi Gras Casino will continue to see a steady decline unless change is made to stop the erosion,' the presentation read.
But Aliff-Lao said there are other economic factors that the casino should consider, namely the continuous decline in the region's population.
'We recognize that there can be an economic impact, and you hope that the casino will rally around and find other ways to make up for that revenue,' Aliff-Lao said. 'But I think [protecting] the safety of the patrons and the employees who really would be exposed [to cigarette smoke] is our job as the board of health.'
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