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Casino Non-Smoking
Area Bill
A bill to require casinos to provide non-smoking areas for gamers
faces a tough challenge in the Nevada State Assembly. Assembly Bill
159, sponsored by Assemblyman Bob Price, would force casinos to create
areas where gamblers can be free of second-hand smoke. Currently Nevada
law only requires non-smoking areas in restaurants. Citing health
considerations, Price stated he sponsored the bill to protect casinos
from potential lawsuits by non-smoking visitors and dealers who become
ill due to inhaling carcinogens produced by tobacco. "My intent
is to provide overall protection for our many visitors and also to
protect our main industry," said Price.
Lobbyists for both the Nevada Resort Association and R.J. Reynolds
Tobacco Company indicated studies show that better than 60% of gamblers
are smokers. Requiring casinos to provide separate smoke-free areas,
they contend, would result in increased costs and resulting loss of
revenue to the state, as well as forcing many small casinos and convenience
stores, which rely on slots for a major portion of their income, out
of business.
Committee Chairman Bernie Anderson suggested that an amendment exempting
such small businesses from the requirements of the act might be possible,
but only if opponents to the bill were willing to compromise.
Currently Nevada has the highest population of smokers in the country,
with fully a third of both adults and high-school students involved
in tobacco use.
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