The Legislative Assembly in Macau will debate amendments to the tobacco control law next month, urging the government to immediately implement a full smoking ban in casinos.
Ella Lei Cheng I, who tabled the motion, said that the partial smoking ban implemented last year was unsatisfactory, given “the lenient supervision by the government.”
The Assembly should therefore debate “whether there should be immediate revision to the law to implement a full smoking ban in gaming venues in order to protect the occupational safety of gaming employees,” Lei said. The workspace for casino employees was “even worse” than before the partial ban, she added.
Smoking is currently permitted in areas occupying no more than half the floor space of the gaming venues. But the Health Bureau said earlier this month that they would pilot a scheme that will ban smoking on the mass-market gaming floor except for smoking rooms which do not accommodate gaming tables or slot machines.
