Letter: No escape from secondhand smoke in casinos

Monday, July 11, 2005 | 8:49 a.m.

While visiting Las Vegas last week, I asked dealers and servers at many of the large casinos how they dealt with the constant secondhand smoke. They all essentially said, "We can't do much about it. It's either breathe it or get another job." Wow.

Furthermore, three different workers at different hotels told me that secondhand smoke is a "forbidden subject." Forbidden at one workplace, it's unfortunate. At three or more, it's a network.

Just as bad, nonsmoking guests who get a nonsmoking room can rest assured that that will be the only place in the hotel where they won't have to gag on secondhand smoke. People are puffing away everywhere -- in the lobby, the casinos, the halls, the buffet lines and even the restrooms.

Walking to my room resulted in my family and I choking on cigarette smoke every time we came out or in. I'm not a crusader; I was simply on vacation. But I would urge all service-industry workers at the hotels to unite on this issue. Nearly every other workplace in the country has wholly embraced work environments that are free of unhealthy tobacco smoke. They shouldn't be denied what the rest of us already have.

STEPHEN NICKOLAI Madison, Ala.