Casinos fight bill requiring non-smoking areas

Erin Neff

Friday, March 2, 2001 | 11:18 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Restaurants already offer non-smoking areas, but a measure to require casinos to offer similar sections for gamblers ran into stiff opposition Thursday.

Assembly Bill 159, sponsored by Assemblyman Bob Price, would require casinos to set aside non-smoking areas where gamblers can play games without breathing second-hand smoke. The measure does not specify the size of the area or order any ventilation requirements.

But gaming lobbyists strongly objected to the measure, citing statistics that up to 60 percent of gamblers are also smokers.

Harvey Whittemore, a lobbyist representing the Nevada Resort Association and tobacco giant RJ Reynolds, said the revenue casinos generate for the state could be threatened by forcing them to create smoke-free areas.

"I don't think it's incumbent on us to tell the state's largest businesses how to run their operations," Whittemore said.

Price said he sponsored the bill in part because he feared casinos could be liable to lawsuits brought by non-smoking dealers or visitors who are sickened by inhaling second-hand smoke in casinos.

"My intent is to provide an overall protection for our many visitors and also to protect our main industry," said Price, D-North Las Vegas.

Numerous health officials testified in support of the bill, citing statistics about environmental tobacco smoke, also called second-hand smoke.

"A non-smoker just walking through a casino for a restaurant or a restroom is exposed to carcinogens," said Colleen Hughes, tobacco prevention and control coordinator for the Washoe County Health District.

Nevada is the No. 1 smoking state nationwide with 33 percent of adults and 33 percent of high school students smoking.

Lawrence Matheis, executive director of the Nevada State Medical Association, said he spends much of his time at national conferences being asked to defend Nevada's abysmal record.

But Matheis also said he thought the measure would be harmful to smaller casinos and convenience stores, neither of which have the space to create non-smoking areas.

Deborah Sheltra, owner of a small grocery store in Reno with 12 slot machines, said the bill would put her out of business.

"If this were passed it would force me to have a non-smoking store," Sheltra said. "None of my gamers are non-smoking."

Sheltra said she gets roughly 50 percent of her net income from the slot machines and cannot afford to run her store without them.

Committee Chairman Bernie Anderson said it is possible a subcommittee might be formed to work on an amendment to exempt smaller casinos and convenience stores from the bill.

But after the hearing Anderson said he would only work on the bill if enough of his committee members were willing to try to reach a compromise. He said five of the committee's 14 members have already told him they planned to vote against the measure.