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• Mich. House OKs smoking ban, but not in casinos  

The Michigan House voted today to ban smoking in workplaces including bars and restaurants, but allow it on gambling floors at Detroit's three casinos, cigar bars and specialty smoke shops.

The 73-31 vote set up another faceoff with the Senate, which last year voted for a total smoking ban, no exceptions.

The smoking ban remains a hot issue, led by anti-smoking advocates encouraged by smoking bans approved in recent weeks in Wisconsin and North Carolina, a tobacco industry state where a smoking ban was once unimaginable.

But like last year, a stalemate looms again between Michigan's House and Senate over whether to allow smoking in Detroit's casinos. A state imposed smoking ban would not affect Indian-run casinos.

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