Until casinos ban smoking, Vegas will lose business

Geoffrey Hamilton, Northport, Ala.

Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010 | 2:02 a.m.

Regarding a story in the Dec. 13 Las Vegas Sun, “Crusade to outlaw smoking in casinos is waged in hostile territory”:

I’m retired and travel a lot. I visited Las Vegas recently for the first time in eight years. I love the entertainment, great restaurants and I enjoy gambling, especially on sports.

But I will not come back until your city joins the 21st century and bans smoking in casinos. Your city is hurting and yet the people allow its elected officials to cater to the 20 percent of the population that smokes.

When it’s crowded on weekends, all casinos reek of smoke and I cannot even sit in a sports book and watch a game I bet on.

Recent studies on secondhand smoke conclude that it is almost as dangerous as smoking yourself. The health of all casino workers is being affected negatively as is the cost of health care in the Las Vegas area. I can personally attest to the fact that Las Vegas is also losing business as a result.

Why don’t the citizens of Las Vegas begin a grass-roots campaign and persuade elected officials to change the outdated smoking laws? Las Vegas would benefit in lots of ways.