Fighting For Air: Secondhand Smoke in Casinos from RPCI Health Behavior-Paul Hage on Vimeo.
No question about it, the issue of secondhand smoke is the greatest moral dilemma before the casino industry … especially since eliminating it means making a considerable sacrifice on the bottom line. This latest volley employs some wild and dubious assertions. (Private-sector and tribal casinos growing “at an exponential rate”? Ha!) But it also puts a human face on the debate. The gambling industry is heavily reliant on smokers — practically enslaved to them, in fact — but the corollary to the sound fiscal arguments for permitting smoking on casino floors is the knowledge that we’re shooting dice with people’s lives.
I’m sorry, but as long as tobacco is legal, then it should be allowed in casino’s or bars and restaurants. I’m not a smoker, but if I don’t want second hand smoke, I have the option of not going to places that allow it. Plus, if your’re going to ban it, ban from everyone, Indian or non Indian, you need a fair playing field.
It is amazing how nice a non smoking casino is. I plan casino trips to Colorado and not Las Vegas for this reason. Smokers still go to Colorado and all the casinos provide smoking areas. I think that Las Vegas forgets that smoking is on the decline, and if all you are getting is smokers, then maybe a segment of the population isn’t using Las Vegas casinos. Had forgotten how bad a smoky casino is until I passed through Wendover last year. Didn’t spent long in the casino because I could hardly breath.