Those of you who still follow us on Twitter, er, X may recall that we promised to share the next Casino Life Editor’s Note with you. Since it’s virtually the only Casino Life content that’s not hyperlinked to the Web, here it is:
It’s noxious. It’s antisocial. And it’s unhealthy. It’s cigar and cigarette smoke in casinos. And it’s got to go.
While I can’t speak for Europe and Asia, here in America less than 13 percent of the population smokes. Although these people are in a very small minority of consumers, the casino industry bends over for them as though they were the only players who mattered. Because of them you have to choke on noxious tobacco fumes every time you cross a casino floor. Nor can you ‘vote with your feet’ because neither the casino across the street nor the one in the next town caters to non-smokers.
In the U.S., seemingly the only way to get smoke off a casino floor is for gambling to be legalized in a state that already bans smoking in public places. Even that is no guarantee. In a recent and disgraceful backslide, the city council of Shreveport, Louisiana, decided to reinstate smoking on the city’s casino floors. This was done at the apparent importuning of Boyd Gaming and Bally’s Corp., two companies with a vested interest in beclouding the air, all the better to compete with smoking-rampant gambling halls in nearby Bossier City.
While the City Council went through the motions of taking public testimony, the final vote did not reflect the citizen feedback they received. Their constituents spoke overwhelmingly against bringing smoking back to 75 percent of city casino floors. Completing the profile in cowardice, the mayor let the supine vote go into law without his signature.
As veteran casino executive Richard Schuetz acidly noted, “Understanding that there is a high comorbidity between smoking and problem gambling, the city council … has clearly taken the position that while smoking damages the health of guests and employees, keeping our problem gamblers happy is important.”
Similar observations might be made of Rhode Island, where Bally-friendly legislators have wailed that the state might lose one-third of its casino revenue were smoking to be banned. Think about it. Thirteen percent of customers accounting for 33 percent of winnings? We’d better look into this comorbidity issue.
Nor is the lack of spine confined to marginal markets. Although a majority of the New Jersey Legislature favors—and cosponsors—bills to extirpate smoking from Atlantic City, it lacks the political will to bring the issue to a vote. That’s how cowed they are by casinos. Meanwhile, dealers and others must cough and bear it as the carcinogenic cost of making a living.
So we must continue to observe such poisonous fictions as Las Vegas’ “smoke-free corridors”—as though clouds of tar and nicotine observe arbitrary borders drawn in thin air. It’s Theatre of the Absurd on which the curtain should have fallen years ago.
I am tired of the conversation. There are studies that show that 20%+ of gamblers are smokers. That leaves 80% who are not, but of that 80%, there seems to be about 5% of in that group who think they have enough self importance that they can set the rules for everyone else. Not fair. It’s no different than the far-right giving everyone “freedom” by taking rights away. This decision should be left to the casinos, not government.
Why is the casino industry catering to 20 percent of their customer base while inconveniencing 80 percent? I’m not sure where you came up with the statistic that only 5 percent of non smokers are opposing smoking. My experience is that no non smokers want to play on a table with someone who is smoking.
Perhaps it’s because “the real 20% of casino smokers” constitute 80% of casino revenue? I fail to understand this attitude for vice (gambling) but anti-smoking, when your pro-alcohol consumption on the casino floor. Your a true hypocrite, being that alcohol is far more dangerous, as is gambling, than smoking ever has been, or ever will be! Stop with the endless Political BS! I have lost complete and total respect for you personally and as a Journalist! You have allowed yourself to slide so far, over this past decade. SO sad, as I used to highly respect you and your work.