Smokers and tobacco companies have for years been fighting a rearguard battle against a worldwide public health movement that makes it harder to score that nicotine fix.
Evidence of the rising tide of anti-tobacco sentiment is legion: tobacco advertising is strictly limited in the U.S. and abroad, indoor smoking is now banned in many states, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration just proposed graphic new package labels that replace current warnings with images that seem to have come from a horror film.
But in one American city, the movement has had less impact: Las Vegas.
As The New York Times reports, even if individual casinos try to ban smoking, they are trumped by state law, which permits smoking in the gambling establishments for which Las Vegas is notorious.
A statewide ban on public smoking passed four years ago carved out a specific exemption for the sections of casinos devoted to gambling, an exemption that demonstrates the ample power of the gaming industry.
And smokers are taking full advantage. A walk through a handful of Vegas casinos by the Times reporter revealed cigarette girls carting trays full of unopened packs, gamblers brandishing their lit cigars with gusto, and objections to second-hand smoke being met with eye-rolling.
Many supporters of the casinos’ exemption say gambling and smoking are inextricably linked.
“There’s been a link between smokers and gamblers for years,” Billy Vassiliadis, whose adverting firm represents the city’s tourism industry, told The Times. “A lot of people do things here that they don’t do at home. It’s part of the overall appeal of Las Vegas. You have choices here.”
Others are not convinced by Vassiliadis’ logic.
A group of employees of Wynn Las Vegas are pursuing a $5 million class action lawsuit, in an effort to compel the casino to protect workers whose job places them in smoky rooms for hours at a time. More than a ban on smoking, plaintiff lawyers say they simply hope for the installation of air-cleansing machines.
“We get every kind of direct cigarette smoke, sometimes intentionally blown on us because they are losing,” said Kanie Kastroll, the lead plaintiff and a dealer with more than 20-years of experience. “You’re not allowed to fan, you can’t blow it back on them. Forget the employee — it’s all about their bottom line.”
