Poll : 24 February - 08 March 2016

Analysis

Thanks to all of you who took part in this poll, which yielded interesting results. What follows is a cross section of the additional feedback we received:

• "First, let me state that I was a smoker for 25 years. When I quit in 1985 there were very few rules regarding smoking in public places, restaurants, and the like. I quit because I began coughing and my throat started to get scratchy. To this day, if I am around heavy smoke, it still bothers me, but I am not going to go around telling people they can't smoke. If I am gambling and someone sits beside me and lights up, I still have the option of getting up and moving. Problem solved!"
  
  
• If someone wants to smoke they can go outside ... 20 to 30 feet away from the building. ALL Ohio casinos are totally smoke free and Vegas should be the leader in this. NO EXCUSES such as the wimp "people won't come in to gamble." Sure they will. To assume otherwise is insane."
  
  
• I am in Illinois, where you cannot smoke. I am a non-smoker and find when I go to Wisconsin or Indiana, where smoking is allowed, it truly depends on the ventilation system. Sadly, the areas set aside for non-smokers sometimes are little rooms with a poor variety of machines, or an area that is part of the regular casino just labeled non-smoking. Most times I do not have a problem with a smoker and feel if they were there first and it bothers me, I can move. If I was there first, I hope to get some consideration and not have smoke aimed at me. Thanks for asking my opinion."
  
  
• While not a fan of smoking, first- or second-hand, a smoking ban in casinos would impose a huge financial burden on the industry and the citizens of NV that depend on the tax revenues the casinos produce. Anyone who knows, or has been, a smoker knows that a major part of smoking is satisfaction of a compulsion. People do it because they 'need' to. Casinos love compulsives. Adequate air cleaning/circulation is the key to keeping the profits and helping the non-smokers among us coexist with the smokers."
  
  
• "If it were up to me, all tobacco would disappear off the face of the earth. (Is 'weed' a tobacco? 'cause, let's not get crazy here. Just the plants they turn into cigarettes, cigars & chewing tobacco (GROSS).) Anyway, as much as I would like to be able to breathe clean air in ANY casino, I seriously doubt they will be smoke-free anytime soon. There are just too many people who would not come to gamble if they had to leave their machine or table to light up."
  
  
• "We live in Ohio and all our casinos are smoke-free, so when we go to Pennsylvania it's a shock! I always forget how bad it is. You take a shower and put on clean clothes and you come back smelling like an ashtray."
  
  
• "Sorry to say, but unless the laws are changed everywhere, very few casinos will shell out the dough to install new air-filtration systems. My heart goes out to the workers who have to take the chance of developing cancer just to earn a living."
  
  
• "My wife and I were both previously heavy smokers. We both realize how difficult it is to quit. I am not anti-smoking but smokers need to be aware of where they blow their smoke and leave their ashes. With the price of cigarettes constantly increasing more and more smokers are going to generic/cheaper brands, which are even stinkier. We both carry mini-fans which we break out if we are around an inconsiderate smoker."
  
  
• "'Fer chrissakes...it's Vegas! Hopefully all can be accommodated, with workers in those areas being paid more or there on a voluntary basis. Casinos may struggle if a smoker can't play and light up."
  
  
• "The existing smoke-free areas of a casino (which are few) have mostly lame and outdated machines. If they'd improve what is in those areas, maybe everybody could be happy."
  
  
• " We probably wouldn't visit any more often than we do just because of it, but as a lifelong NON-smoker, it would surely improve the quality of our experiences there."
  
  
• "While I am not a cigarette smoker, I do enjoy the occasional cigar. I usually don't light up at the tables out of consideration for the dealers and (most) of the other players. I do recall lighting up once at a craps table with the explicit hope of running off the annoying lady of the player next to me. She left. I just want a spot, a NICE spot, where I can light up a cigar and sit back with a bourbon and enjoy the moment. I don't want to be outside with the valets looking at the parking lot."
  
  
• "A good air-filtration system would go along ways to improving a lot of the problems. Except for one item: Keep cigars out of any enclosed area. I really couldn't stand those stinking things even when I did smoke."
  
  
• "I don't smoke cigs, but I do vape. If vaping isn't allowed I won't go to Vegas."
  
  
• "I have never smoked in my life. I still think the anti-smoking has gone too far. Smokers have rights too. There is a balance."
  
  
• "If even Macau, with its Chinese clientele who are almost all heavy smokers, can go smokeless on its casino floors, why can't Vegas? For crying out loud, this is 2016, not 1950! Casino owners: How about taking the lead here and just doing it! Show some b---s for once."
  
  
• "This is sin city. The whole place was built on smokers like me. There is no point in going to Vegas if I can't smoke. It would be interesting to see some actual figures on how much is gambled by smokers as to non smokers."'