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 just got back from a five-day visit to Las Vegas, and I haven't seen so many smokers in one place since the 1970s. Judging by my own vissual survey, the majority of people in the casino sections are smokers, sitting with their ashtrays at their elbows (and ashtrays are EVERYWHERE).
And apparently the liberal smoking policies are not hurting Las Vegas as a tourist destination, since huge new hotels are going up everywhere and the crowds are thick even on weekdays in late September.
In fact, on Friday and Saturday night, the huge (more than 2500 guest rooms) hotel where I stayed was sold out. There were lines even for breakfast at the hotel's restaurants (all of which permit smoking). In fact, the restaurants and hotels along the Strip no longer even offer unbelievably low-priced hotel rooms on weekends or incredibly low-priced meals anytime as an inducement to travelers, as they did some years ago when I visited. Our ordinary breakfasts of bacon, eggs, oj, toast and coffee at the hotel's coffee shop ran close to $10 apiece, and steaks at the hotel's steakhouse were $25 to $40 a la carte. And this was by no means one of the really expensive hotels! Las Vegas is booming, both with tourists, and with new residents moving in at the rate of more than 6000 a MONTH. Guess all the tobacco smoke hasn't hurt LV one bit.
First, you are confused. Socialism favors OWNERSHIP by the community. Regulations are entirely consistent with good old capitalism. If fact, regulations are required as they enhance the structure of capitalism and make commerce more consistent and profitable.
He didn't have the right to violate that person just because he was smoking a cigarette. If anyone grabbed at me, I, too, would have the notion of striking back. Must have been some wimp to let this person do this and get away with it.
Paging Mister Smith, Mister Adam Smith, please pick up a white courtesy telephone.
Please remember you said that when the envir-nuts hit your state, and suddenly your SUV is the "auto of Satan" in their eyes, and you start having to pay extra for choosing to own one.
Logic error! In AS days, there were no pagers, no phones, no manufacturing as we know it. Steam engines were almost unknown.
Logic error! You have NO right to a SUV. Right now, SUV's have an economic advantage over cars. That is why we see so many of them rather than vans and station wagons. Station wagons were popular years ago and not that much different from SUV's of today. Vans are much more convenient for most families than SUV's but do not have this economic advantage. The "fight" is to bring equality to those regulations which have given SUV's an unfair advantage.
You pulled the above logic out of thin air; or maybe someplace where the sun doesn't shine. You tried to infer that I was touting socialism but I outed you on that one. Now you are trying for fascism. Give me a break. OTOH, give yourself a break and do some research.
To the larger portion of the general public it is no more than an annoyance.
If you want to nitpick, which is what you have been doing with almost everyone that has replied to you, we can do that.
Again, should we legislate an annoyance because a small minority is affected?
I think your right. This is getting tiring.
And I was making a play on your little joke to show that AS's writings were influenced by the environment he was in. If one lives in an oppressive environment, one perceives regulation as evil. If one lives in an open society and feels that he is part of that society and government, then he perceives the rules as benefiting society and his ability to partake in commerce. For example, we might perceive that the regulation to drive on the right side of the road should be left up to the individual if he feels that his enterprise capability would be enhanced. I would hate to meet such a situation going 70 mph on the freeway!
With Republicans like these, who needs Democrats? I guess we have no right to own a smoking restaurant, either?
The "fight" is to bring equality to those regulations which have given SUV's an unfair advantage.
While I would agree that federal regulations that treat automobiles and light trucks differently should be changed, we would probably differ on what change to make.
Station wagons were popular years ago and not that much different from SUV's of today. Vans are much more convenient for most families than SUV's but do not have this economic advantage.
Vans are considered light trucks and so they are roughly equivalent to the SUV in terms of mileage requirements and other regulations. Therefore, I would not say that the difference in fuel milage requirements and safety features alone explains the popularity of the sport utility vehicle. SUVs are more popular than vans not because or in spite of Congress but rather because they offer features people want which vans do not, such as more automobile-like handling.
Typical liberal strategy. When you can't fight, you start to slander the messenger! This discussion is about the RIGHT of government to regulate. Do you believe that government has NO right to regulate?
How did we get from the right of business owners to conduct their business as they see fit, to a total repudiation of traffic law? I think we're getting into apple and orange territory.
The government does not have rights. People have rights. Governments are granted the authority to do a limited number of legitimate things by the people.
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