Posted on 09/24/2002 4:22:36 PM PDT by SheLion
LAS VEGAS - Perhaps the biggest threat to growth in the U.S. casino industry comes not from antigambling interests, but from health-conscious public officials.
A group that sets the country's indoor air-quality standards is under "enormous" pressure to make casinos and other hospitality venues smoke-free, an expert warned attendees at the Global Gaming Expo on Thursday.
"With the collapse of the tobacco industry, (?) the hospitality industry is next to come under attack," said Elia Sterling, president of Theodor Sterling Associates, an indoor air-quality firm based in Vancouver, B.C.
If the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, or ASHRAE, were to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for smoke particles, casinos could lose billions in revenue, according to legislative analyst Wayne Mehl of the American Gaming Association.
Forty percent to 50 percent of casino gamblers are smokers, about double the percentage of the U.S. population as a whole, Mehl said. A 1993 gaming-industry study showed that Nevada casinos alone would have lost $1 billion in revenue if casinos were forced to go smoke-free.
"It's not just the loss of customers, but also the loss of gambling time - 12 percent less time for smokers. They would spend that time going out for a smoke," Mehl said.
Of course the casino industry is concerned about the effects of second-hand smoke on its employees, Mehl said, but Thursday's panel discussion was all about the bottom line.
The industry will get a glimpse of the possible future beginning Nov. 27, when the three Delaware racetracks become the first casino jurisdiction to go smoke-free as part of a broader state law.
"There's a lot of talk about how much (gaming-tax) revenue the state will lose, and not only that, but jobs, too," said Don Johnson, deputy director of the Delaware State Lottery, which controls the racetrack slot-machine operations.
Delaware officials have been in touch with counterparts in Australia, where every gaming establishment was required to provide a smoke-free gaming area by Sept. 1. Johnson said he was told that the Australian smoking ban caused a sharp decrease in casino revenue initially but that business is beginning to recover.
At issue for U.S. casinos is ASHRAE Standard 62-1999, which governs how casinos, restaurants, bars and lounges filter and dilute their air to control tobacco particles, tobacco odor and body odor.
"It's intended to accommodate smoking in buildings," Sterling said. "This ASHRAE standard is a practical standard and is working well in the field."
For example, he said, the lavish Bellagio casino hotel here "provides better air quality indoors than you'll find outdoors."
Special interests, however, are aggressively pushing for standards so tight they "would effectively ban smoking in the hospitality industry," Sterling said.
ASHRAE (which conveniently rhymes with ashtray) is a 108-year-old non-government trade group of indoor-air specialists whose standards governance has been taken over by public funding and public officials, Sterling said. Today, the group's standards committee is chaired by an official from the Environmental Protection Agency and has only two representatives from the hospitality industry, he said.
"They're in the process of adopting a zero-tolerance approach to tobacco smoke. One molecule of tobacco smoke is unacceptable," Sterling said. "The debate is clearly not about health as it is about social engineering to denormalize smoking."
Matthew Iandoli, a Washington-based lobbyist and lawyer, said the Hospitality Coalition on Indoor Air Quality is trying to pre-empt the proposed new rules by adopting its own guidelines for smoke and ventilation. The group's members include the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, which represents more than 14,000 Atlantic City casino workers, and the Nevada Resort Association, which represents the gaming industry here.
Iandoli warned that any action, or non-action, by the hospitality industry could expose it to substantial legal damages.
"Trial lawyers are trying to find that avenue, trying to find that chink in the armor where they can pursue those class-action lawsuits," he said. "If the ASHRAE standard goes forward, that will be the point at which the lawyers will try to show that the casino industry has harmed its employees."
From the casinos' point of view, Mehl said, the "ideal" solution to shielding employees and customers from smoke is a combination of effective ventilation and smoke-free areas.
To e-mail Joe Weinert at The Press:
JWeinert@pressofac.com
I play no word games. I ask where you get your ideas about the alleged legitimate power to usurp property rights. I get accused of playing games. This is no game.
I already stated that you have the right to smoke on your property. Why do you rehash this?
Because you concede rights, and then contradict yourself. People either have the right to use their property for smoking or they don't. You can't have it both ways and remain logical and consistent. You either have the legitimate power to dictate the terms of their business property rights or you don't.
No rights are absolute.
False. I have the right to live as long as I don't violate your rights.
Society (and if you don't know what this is, go look it up) has rights also.
Where would I look that concept up? And,,You need to define society. I have asked you to do so for the sake of clarity. You have defined this as word games.
For the record, individual people have rights, governments have power. Governments have no rights. Society has no rights. Societies are nothing more than groups of individual people. Groups of people have no rights which individual people do not have.
Governments have power. Only some of the powers they have are legitimate. People have rights. Only some of the rights they claim are legitimate. Do you understand these concepts?
We are the government, or have you forgotten?
And if the clientele of the establishment is 75 - 80% smokers permitting smoking in that establishment is what "society" requires.
Do you not agree?
Correct. Businesses offer products and services to people. They have no power to force the people to comsume their offerings. In the absence of force, fraud or coercion, people will do business with them or not according to their preferences. No force, hence no obligation beyond their self interest.
Hence there is no right for society to impose ANY regulations on business.
Incorrect. Laws regulating the use of force or fraud to deny others their rights are legitimate. Tort laws defend rights. They are legitimate forms of regulation.
Rules are set for business since some owners are total a$$es.
You are under no obligation to do business with people whom you concider to be asses.
I remember getting ill at a restuarant in upper NY state while eating breakfast and was told that they did NOT have a restroom for customers but I could go about two blocks to a hotel! I told them they better let me use their restroom or they would have a nice mess in the middle of their floor and a lot of uncomfortable customers as I puked my guts after eating their food.
Thank you for sharing this story. It has however no relevance to rights. I assume you no longer do business with that resturant. If the food in the resturant made you ill, you have the basis for a civil action. If you can prove the resturant poisoned you intentionally, you have the basis for a criminal complaint.
I worked in an office with someone who for years blew the smoke in my face all day long. I enhaled their smoke and smelled like it. I had to wash my hair and clothes as soon as I got home to keep from having everything in my house smelling like it. That doesn't mean that I hate you or anyone else. Sorry if that's what it sounded like.
I hope and pray for your sake, you never run into my husband.
Consumer Non-smokers outnumber smokers. If the owners of businesses perceive it to be in their own best interests to serve only non smokers, there will be more no-smoking establishments. The market will decide by non-coercive and non violent means. The world is a better place if it operates that way.
They can almost pass for stand-up comedians.
Using physical force to settle disputes is rarely a good choice. Violating someone physically because you object to rude behavior can lead to serious consequences, as you pointed out.
Chaos can be dangerous to one's health. For that reason, I hope this person doesn't attempt to do that to your husband.
"When you fight fire with fire, all you get is a bigger blaze".
Forget about your husband, or mine - I hope and pray this person never runs into ME!!!!!
Sorry to tell you, even the professionals can't understand why we are not in recession, we have 2.5% inflation, in a recession, inflation goes down.
You, perhaps, should go read a good economics book. Recession is the contraction of business. Even in a recession you can have inflation. You are thinking of deflation.
I have NO right to come in and demand anything of you. What right do you have to operate your restaurant? Your restaurant is licensed to operate in accordance with regulations set by society. It is society operating through their government representatives that set those regulations. Are all regulations required or sensible? Of course not; but that is not the argument you are trying to use.
I can see that you learned nothing. I didn't suspect that you would. Businesses do not "partake" of society. The individuals who live in them have rights, some of those rights are property rights.
The "society" you keep referring to has no rights. No right exists to violate the rights of others. You refuse to see that. No problem, but it was instuctive to see how you attempted to establish that right where it cannot exist.
And repeating an erroneous statement over and over again will not make it correct.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.