At a Washington, DC Event, Rep. Titus Repeated Industry Claims About
Ventilation Systems Debunked by Engineering Experts
Washington, DC – During an event with Semafor on September 19th, Nevada Congresswoman Dina Titus was asked about indoor smoking in casinos, and offered up industry talking points on ventilation systems addressing secondhand smoke. (A full transcript of Rep. Titus’s remarks is below and may be viewed here, beginning at 49:25.)
Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) President and CEO Cynthia Hallett released the following statement in response:
“The engineers who design ventilation systems have repeatedly told casinos to stop claiming that they protect workers and guests from dangerous secondhand smoke. These systems remove odor, not carcinogens and other harmful chemicals. The only way to guarantee that customers and workers are breathing clean air is to eliminate indoor smoking from casinos, fullstop.
“Nevadans overwhelmingly support ending indoor smoking in casinos, as does the largest union representing the table games dealers who bear the brunt of secondhand smoke on the job. Given the support for smoke-free casinos from patrons, working people, public health officials and the public at large, we encourage Rep. Titus to support her constituents and use her role as the Congressional Gaming Caucus chair to push the industry to end this outdated business practice.”
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has warned against relying on ventilation to protect against secondhand smoke. “[Ventilation systems] are not effective against secondhand smoke” and “can reduce only odor and discomfort, but cannot eliminate exposure,” wrote the ventilation experts in a letter to the Nevada Resort Association. “There is no currently available or reasonably anticipated ventilation or air-cleaning system that can adequately control or significantly reduce the health risks of [environmental tobacco smoke] to an acceptable level.”
Nevadans support eliminating smoking in casinos by a nearly 20-point margin, according to a 2024 poll by Normington-Petts. Nearly 60% of Nevada voters would support a law making all workplaces in Nevada, including casinos, 100% smokefree indoors, while just 39% of Nevada voters are opposed. Nevada voters also support elected officials who support making casinos smokefree indoors. A majority (55%) would have a more favorable opinion of their state legislators if they voted to make all workplaces smokefree indoors.
The Culinary Workers Union has been supportive of smokefree policies, praising the decision to make MGM International Resorts’ Park MGM entirely smokefree. (Notably, Park MGM President Ann Hoff said going smokefree was “very, very well received.”)
Earlier this year, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 3555 President Paula Larson-Schusster “said the UAW is exploring multiple ways to get non-smoking legislation in front of decision makers. ‘I’m willing to use any tool in the toolbox that will get me to that point.’ …Culinary Local 226 officials were not involved with the polling. Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said the union representing most Strip hospitality workers is paying close attention to the Atlantic City effort to end indoor smoking.’”
In New Jersey, the UAW, which represents table games dealers most affected by indoor smoking at casinos, has helped bring a lawsuit to close the casino smoking loophole in the state’s Clean Indoor Air Act, and the union’s president Shawn Fain has called for legislative action.
Research suggests that indoor smoking worsens gambling addiction. The National Council on Problem Gambling, has expressed support for ending indoor smoking—writing to legislators that “making casinos smoke free is likely to reduce the incidence of problem gambling and improve public health.”
As far back as 2009, the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) recommended smokefree environments for gaming—but few casinos have acted on that recommendation.
TRANSCRIPT
Semafor Event: Betting on the Future of Gaming
September 19, 2024, Washington, DC
Elana Schor, Semafor: One particular public health issue that Rep. Tonko has discussed but is a specific state-level question now is indoor smoking in casinos. Casinos are one of the few places left in America where you can still smoke indoors. And in New Jersey, casino workers are currently trying to ban it, citing the public health effects. Would you support a similar ban in Nevada? Do you think anything else should be done, if not a ban?
Dina Titus: You know, this is something that the state legislature has looked at off and on. And again, you find the industry regulating itself. If you go anywhere practically on the Strip with all the new casinos, they have the very latest technology. It’s not the low ceiling, old time places that are so smoky that you find a few left downtown, but they’ve done a pretty good job. Even some of the slot machine banks have filters on the side that suck out the bad air, so I would challenge you to go in places like that and find that it will be a very smoky atmosphere. But secondhand smoke is certainly something to take into consideration, not just for customers, but for employees.
Schor: So, do you hear from constituents at all who are concerned about this, being exposed on the job?
Titus: Well, not lately because of all the improvements that have been made. You know, this is an issue that the union, the Culinary Union, is very influential in politics in Nevada. And so if they make it an issue and get the state legislature engaged in it, I think you might find some movement on it.
###
ABOUT AMERICANS FOR NONSMOKERS’ RIGHTS
ANR Foundation’s sister organization, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) is a member-supported, non-profit advocacy group that has been working for over 45 years, since 1976, to protect everyone’s right to breathe nontoxic air in workplaces and public places, from offices and airplanes to restaurants, bars, and casinos. ANR has continuously shined a light on the tobacco industry’s interference with sound and life-saving public health measures and successfully protected 61% of the population with local or statewide smokefree workplace, restaurant, and bar laws. ANR aims to close gaps in smokefree protections for workers in all workplaces, including bars, music venues, casinos, and hotels. For more information, please visit https://nonsmokersrights.org and https://smokefreecasinos.org
The post Public Health Group Responds to Rep. Dina Titus Comments on Casino Smoking appeared first on American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation | no-smoke.org.