Whew! For a few minutes there, it looked like Pennsylvania's long-promised slots casinos would have to undertake yet another public mission: Save smoking.

Gambling's "to do" list was already quite imposing. First, it was supposed to bring us property tax relief. Then it was supposed to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh. And last week it looked like a slots parlor soon might be the only public place that local puffers could legally light up.

Fairer taxes, professional hockey, and the freedom to smoke -- that's a lot of civic virtue to balance on the back of one lonely vice. I don't see how gambling can do it all.

The action last week was harder to follow than a one-armed bandit's row of spinning cherries. What is it about gambling that makes our politicos so frantic?

It all started Tuesday when Allegheny County Council passed a bill, by a vote of 14 to 1, banning smoking in all public places, including bars and restaurants.

On the same day, state senators in Harrisburg approved an amendment to the slots bill that would exempt casinos from any local smoking ban.

This exemption makes complete sense. If we're all going to get meaningful property tax relief from the advent of the Casino Age, then a whole bunch of civic-minded individuals are going to have to lay down loads of cash on the slot machine altar. Nicotine (and booze, of course) would do much to help blunt the pain of these gamblers' sacrificial giving.

Legal chemical substances would also help make slot machines seem interesting for longer than 90 seconds, and longer playing times increase the "revpac." That's a gaming industry term for "revenue per available customer," though in Pennsylvania's case I'm sure it means "revenue per altruistic citizen." Keeping the chemicals flowing to these selfless people is the least the rest of us can do.

But upon receiving the county council's bill and hearing of the state Legislature's counter-move, County Executive Dan Onorato noted that allowing smoking only at the casino and its restaurant would put the region's other establishments at a considerable disadvantage. By Thursday he'd promised to veto council's anti-smoking bill if the state's casino exemption becomes law.

On Friday, state Sen. Jane Orie, R-McCandless announced that she'd introduce a separate state bill to let Allegheny County decide whether to allow smoking in its only yet-to-be-built casino. At the moment, then, the future of smoking is quite cloudy.

As an ambivalent, live-and-let-die kind of non-smoker, I've got no stake in this game -- other than wanting to see some of my fellow citizens freely part with enough money to nullify my tax bill. Since the key word is "freely," I suggest a free-market approach to the smoking question.

Instead of an outright ban on a perfectly legal (but always harmful) activity, why not give slots players and other entertainment consumers a choice? A casino that will hold as many as 5,000 slot machines has to be a pretty big building. It might even have interior walls. Some of these could separate smoking from non-smoking sections.

Another attractive aspect of the cozier, multi-room design is how it would soften the impersonal warehouse ambience that sometimes disturbs sheep being led to their fleecing.

If Allegheny County's leaders want to stack the deck in favor of clean air at bars and restaurants that are too small to offer a choice, why not offer tax breaks to the ones that ban smoking on their own? Those that can ban smoking and still make a profit will do so; those that can't, won't.

Customers can choose which kind of establishment they prefer, and so can employees. It's still considered a free market, even with incentives to virtue.

This approach will still allow our legal vices to flourish. Since 40 percent of casino patrons are smokers, a figure double the population at large, it's important to the state's fiscal health that they be very comfortable while playing our slot machines.

They've got two big jobs on their to-do list, besides "go to the bank for more quarters." They must 1., reduce our taxes and 2., save the Penguins. If they're successful, our slots-happy politicians can continue to ignore the first item on their to-do list: Try governing.