LAS VEGAS! Casino profits could go up in (no) smoke

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

Some like to go out terminal early with cancer. Too bad!

Better to have died of SOMETHING then to die of just anything and not to have enjoyed life.

I guess smokers don't really know what they're doing

We had a friend who smoked. He quit. Two weeks after he quit, he got his by a semi-truck and was killed. He should have continued smoking. He died anyway. He was only 27.

And there are NO smokers who could last more than two minutes or so -- I KNOW -- I've been there!

I was a professional dancer up until the age of 28 and got married. I smoked. Never hurt me one bit.

I am not bothered from a moral standpoint, as long as smokers pay off their medical bills like everyone else.

Smokers are not a financial burden as you imply: Smoking-related healthcare costs are a pittance to overall healthcare costs (8% in my state of Maine). If every smoker quit, healthcare costs would go down only temporarily and then rise above the amount you are complaining about now, because nonsmokers get sick too and for more years.

Smokers more than make up for their extra cost by dying (their choice-not yours) sooner; collecting less social security and pensions, and less time in nursing homes. The state tax on cigarettes is all gravy. This is all backed up by facts.

Aside from that, we have our own health insurance, thank you. No one pays our way but us.

Absolutely correct. Here in Palm Springs I stopped going to any restaurant and bar when Ca. law went into effect , no smoking at all.

I used to eat lunch & dinner out every day. I'm used to eating at home now and find I don't miss going out as I used to do.

I'm only one person of course but my not eating out has to have had at least a small effect on the restaurants profits and the servers tip , as I'm a generous person in the tip dep't.

Sadly , many people see this as Gov't protecting the health of it's citizens. Not so , It's about higher taxes and more control over people. Now we hear about higher taxes on fast food servers because they cause obesety. Next , it will be the liquor industry . Alcoholism is a major heath problem and drunk drivers kill innocent people.

Socialism is not on it's way , it's here. Non-smokers enjoy your new National Socialistic Big Brother on the left of the aisle.

Alcoholism is a major heath problem and drunk drivers kill innocent people.

Royce, you are SO right! All the restaurants in Maine were forced to go smoke free two years ago. We have not set foot in one since. We have three restaurants/bars up here that we patronize. They get our money and our tips. I absolutely refuse to spend our hard earned money in a place that cannot accomodate us. Pity that they couldn't stand up for us. But it's their loss, I say.

Look at this cartoon I just found. It says it all about our Big Government putting a red X on our foreheads:

They want our money but they want to KILL us. Well, they can't have both, can they?!

I am not bothered from a moral standpoint, as long as smokers pay off their medical bills like everyone else.
I also after 45 years of warnings of cancer, can't see how smokers can still go to court over anything regarding cigs.

I agree with both points.
So why are you giving us so much heck?

"We had a friend who smoked. He quit. Two weeks after he quit, he got his by a semi-truck and was killed. He should have continued smoking. He died anyway."

THANK YOU for sharing that! Cheated out of two weeks of smoking, what a tragedy!

You'll have to excuse me now. I feel a choking attack coming on . . .

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