In Kansas, the advocacy group Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) is helping casino workers in the battle to end smoking inside casinos.
Casino security officer Joe Hafley, founder of CEASE Kansas, told local outlet KSNW, “We are joining our peers from across the country and launching CEASE Kansas to demand a clean and safe working environment for the thousands of workers who are the backbone of the gaming industry.”
Currently, Kansas casinos are exempt from the state’s ban on indoor smoking. However, a bill sponsored by several lawmakers to end the exemption passed the Kansas Senate last month.
Legislation also has been proposed in Pennsylvania to remove casinos’ exemption from the state’s Clean Air Act.
State Rep. Dan Frankel, sponsor of the measure that would require casinos to ban cigarette smoking, said, “Casinos, which are very popular, are a public health hazard, and we need to address that. I am now the majority chairman of the health committee. I and my Democratic colleagues on that committee control the agenda, and we will bring this bill up for a vote” in the House later this year.
CEASE PA Administrator Jennifer Rubolino told lawmakers, “Casino employees are being affected by this smoke. We want fresh air like everybody else in the other buildings and all the other businesses in the state. We were left out of the Clean Air Act of ’08. This is long overdue. We’re tired of the pollution and we’re determined to get these bills passed.”
With chapters in six states, CEASE originated in New Jersey and now has 1,000 members in the state. More than 80 New Jersey lawmakers are co-sponsoring two bills in the Senate and one in the House to ban casino smoking.
In a press release, CEASE Co-founder Pete Naccarelli said, “Casino workers all over the country are sick and tired of risking our health over the false perception that casinos will make more money by allowing the outdated practice of indoor smoking. We shouldn’t have to endure dangerous secondhand smoke, putting our lives on the line every day simply to make a paycheck and support our families. No casino in America should have indoor smoking, period.”
The release included a statement from Las Vegas consultants C3Gaming indicating that banning smoking in casinos does not result in a dramatic drop in gaming revenue. In fact, according to the C3 report, “Non-smoking properties appear to be performing better than their counterparts that continue to allow smoking.”
In addition, the CEASE statement said interviews with engineers who design casino ventilation systems said they do not believe those systems significantly reduce the health risks of smoking.
In a statement, Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh said, “Designated smoking and nonsmoking areas of our gaming floor. All restaurants, BetRivers Sportsbook, poker room, the event center, banquet rooms and the Landing Hotel are nonsmoking. Decisions about smoking in Pennsylvania’s casinos are made by the state legislature, and Rivers will, of course, comply with whatever the Commonwealth mandates.”
