Las Vegas is Smoke Free

Well, sort of.

In the November elections, Nevada voters passed Question 5, which basically banned smoking in all indoor places, except for Casinos...of course.

From the Review Journal:

QUESTION 5
• Passed by voters in November, Question 5 prohibits smoking in nearly all public places in Nevada, including grocery stores, restaurants and bars that serve food. Casino floors, brothels and smoke parlors are exempt.

The smoking ban is back in the news recently, as the first lawsuit regarding the ban has been filed against a business not in compliance of the new law. A local bar refused to remove ashtrays and matchbooks, claiming that they were exercising their right to advertise. This resulted in a civil lawsuit filed by the Health District.

The anti-smoking legislation is not unique to Vegas, as most states seem to have similar restrictions on smoking in public places. However, this is interesting as it relates to casinos and hotels in Las Vegas. We also ran across the article, regarding the Casino Lobby's stance on the issue:

After years of actively opposing smoking bans, the casino industry's primary lobbying organization is backing off as a wave of states pass indoor smoking prohibitions that include casinos.

Since the mid-1990s, the American Gaming Association has pushed for national building code standards accommodating tobacco smoke, arguing that prohibiting smoking would be bad for business.

But fighting smoking bans "is an uphill battle," says Judy Patterson, executive director of the American Gaming Association.

Even states that exempted casinos from no-smoking laws, such as Colorado and New Jersey, reconsidered those exemptions the following year, she notes.

Lobbying against smoking bans at a national level has become nearly impossible for the association, she said.

Seems like the industry views a national ban as an inevitability, and I imagine they would eventually support a nationwide ban. Instead of having some smoking and some non-smoking casinos, drawing customers towards those where they can smoke, I imagine they would eventually support a nationwide ban, one that would include Indian Casinos, leaving all casinos on an even keel.

So how long until ALL casinos have to be smoke free? Gambling, drinking, smoking...these vices seem to go together. As a non-smoker, I suppose that this is a good thing. But at the same time, it does bother me as it is one more right taken away from individuals and businesses, if a bar wants to allow smoking, that should be it's own decision. When I go to a casino or bar, I know I'm in for a smokey environment...if that bothered me, I'd go somewhere else.


Casino fight goes up in smoke

ENFORCING THE STATE SMOKING BAN: Public health vs. free speech