Many states in the U.S. have enforced a smoking ban in many public places such as restaurants, bars and bingo halls. But a recent hearing in DeSoto, Mississippi in front of Circuit Court Judge Richard Smith revoked that ban in bingo halls in Washington County. Judge Smith told the community of Greenville that they could not ban smoking in bingo halls without banning smoking in casinos as well.

This ruling could cause problems for other Mississippi cities where smoking bans have recently taken effect because in the dozen or so other municipal anti-smoking ordinances do not specifically mention bingo halls and ruling on this will depend on what another judge feels is the definition of a 'public place'.

Representative John Hines proposed a bill to address smoking in places where it is legal to gamble. Unfortunately his bill died in a house committee. He said without specification, the local bingo operators were feeling picked on. "Their feeling was if you are going to let casino customers smoke freely then you ought to allow the bingo halls to have the same".

Hines stated that after this ordinance took effect a bingo hall that was operated by the Southern AIDS Commission which donated money to help food pantries for the poor as well as to help with the medication and counseling for those with AIDS, took a major drop in revenue.

Hines said "I agree that the health care issues that come with smoking as astronomical, but people who choose to smoke are going to smoke. If there is an entity that can offer to help solve other health care issues ... sometimes you just have to take the good with the bad."

The city of Greenville said that they could not include casinos because they are ran and regulated by the Gaming commission, however, Alonzo Dukes, the executive director of the Southern AIDS Commission argues that bingo halls are also regulated by the Gaming Commission.

- 2008-07-21