Nevada firms worst in smoke-free policies

Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2001 | 11:09 a.m.

Dr. Karen Arcotta, who heads the cardiology department at University Medical Center, winces when she sees cigarette smoke wafting into the air above slot machines in supermarkets or from open doorways of smoking lounges at McCarran International Airport.

"It's pitiful," Arcotta said. "You can't get away from second-hand smoke here if you try."

Nevada employers are worst in the nation when it comes to protecting employees from second-hand tobacco smoke, a new study by the National Cancer Institute reports.

The study's findings came as no surprise to Arcotta, who said Nevada has the most adult smokers in the United States and the highest rates of asthma and deaths from smoking-related diseases. An estimated 3,000 nonsmokers nationwide die each year from illnesses attributed to second-hand smoke.

Arcotta said she has patients with lung cancer who never smoked a single cigarette but were exposed to the second-hand smoke at home or work.

The study, published Friday in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, shows 48.7 percent of Nevada's workplaces have smoke-free policies. That's compared with the national average of 68.6 percent.

The fact that about 25 percent of Clark County's workers are employed by casinos and hotels played a part in the findings, said Dr. David Burns, a University of California at San Diego professor and one of the study's authors. People who enjoy gambling usually enjoy other risk-taking activities, including smoking, Burns said.

Things could change as more people move to Nevada from states with tougher anti-tobacco regulations, Burns said.

"Minimizing exposure to second-hand smoke is becoming the norm in other states, and people moving to Nevada will expect the same protections," Burns said.

Nonsmoking casino employees in Nevada filed a class-action lawsuit against several tobacco companies seeking money for medical monitoring, but the case was rejected by a federal judge in July.

The judge ruled there were too many mitigating factors, such as the health of each individual when they began work, to group the cases in a class-action lawsuit. The judge's ruling is being appealed, said Charles LoBello of Las Vegas, one of the attorneys representing the casino workers.

Tony Badillo, a retired blackjack dealer and one of the complainants in the suit, said he developed asthma from years of exposure to tobacco smoke. Badillo is president of the International Union of Gaming Employees, which has worked to unionize casino dealers in Las Vegas.

"There has to be rooms for customers and dealers who don't want the smoke," said Badillo, who worked at the Sands hotel-casino for 42 years. "It's not enough to set aside an area. Smoke doesn't understand those kinds of boundaries."

Arlene Christensen, another complainant, said doctors trace her chronic bronchitis to breathing second-hand smoke while she worked as a desk clerk. Christensen, who has worked in the industry since 1956 and worked at the Maxim hotel-casino for more than 20 years, said the casinos won't ban smoking as long as the powerful tobacco lobby maintains its tight grip.

"It always comes down to money," Christensen said Monday.

Karen Maccanello, a dealer at the MGM Grand, said she's noticed a significant improvement in air quality since she first began working in casinos 20 years ago.

"I used to go home and wash my hair and change my clothes," Maccanello said. "The smoke isn't even really noticeable anymore."

Maccanello, who doesn't smoke, said imposing more limits on smoking in casinos would hurt business and likely take a bite out of her paycheck.

Cleaning clothing may get rid of the odor, but there's no way to remove the cancer-causing chemicals that have been inhaled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. A 1996 CDC study found nine out of 10 nonsmokers had detectable levels of nicotine byproducts in their blood.

"We need to get the message out that second-hand smoke isn't just an annoyance, it can kill," Tricia Leland, program director for the Las Vegas office of the American Cancer Society, said.

The poker rooms at the Bellagio and the Mirage went smoke-free in June at the request of guests, Wendie Mosca, spokeswoman for MGM MIRAGE, said. The keno area adjacent to the Mirage poker room is also now designated as smoke-free.

"The response has been terrific," Mosca said.

Marty Clark, who was visiting the MGM Grand on Sunday from Houston, said he would favor making all of the casinos no-smoking zones.

"It's already the law in most places," Clark said. "People shouldn't have to put up with the smoke."

Linda Armstrong, also visiting the MGM Grand from Texas, said she always requests a nonsmoking hotel room when she travels.

"It (smoke) gets in your hair and your clothes, even just walking through the casino you leave and you can still smell it," Armstrong said.

Bonnie Skaarland, a smoker visiting Las Vegas for the first time from Apache Junction, Ariz., said there are already enough laws governing where and when people can light up.

"There should certainly be places that choose to be nonsmoking, but the government shouldn't be dictating to businesses what they're allowed to do," Skaarland said. "Let the individuals decide whether they want to go somewhere or not."

Health officials during the 2001 legislative session pushed unsuccessfully for the passage of Senate Bill 258, which would allow local governments to pass more stringent tobacco laws. The bill, which failed, would have allowed cities and counties to ban smoking on school campuses, in convenience and grocery stores and in offices. The bill excluded casinos, bars and bars within restaurants.

The states just above Nevada in the national ranking were Kentucky, with 55.9 percent of workplaces prohibiting smoking, and North Carolina, a major tobacco-producing state that increased its smoke-free workplaces from 31 percent in 1999 to 61 percent this year.

The states with the largest percentage of smoke-free workplaces were Utah with 83.9 percent; Maryland, 81.2 percent; California, 76.9 percent; Massachusetts, 76.8 percent; and Vermont, 76.6 percent.