| |
TRIBAL CASINOS AND SECOND HAND SMOKE
“We wish to have casinos join the ranks of other businesses
and public entities that are completely smoke-free environments.
Every individual in our society should have the right to breathe
safe, sweet air. That should be our creed”. Jack
Lipsman, Director, National Federation of Casino Employees,Casino
Support for Smokefree Gambling, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights,
Oct. 2004
Background and Economic Record
- The California Smoke-free Workplace Law prohibits smoking in enclosed
workplaces including non-tribal gaming clubs and casinos. If
a non-tribal gaming club or casino has employees, smoking is prohibited
inside that establishment, just as it is in virtually all other workplaces
in California. CA Labor Code Section 6404.5
- Smoking prohibitions went into effect for non-tribal gaming clubs
in January 1998. Taxable Sales Figures from the California
Board of Equalization show that revenues in establishments licensed
to serve alcohol - including gaming clubs and casinos that serve alcohol
- increased by more than 5% for each quarter of 1998 over revenues
for each quarter of 1997. Similar revenue increases continue to be
reported through 2004. California Board of Equalization.
- American Indian gaming facilities i.e. casinos and gaming clubs on
tribal land are controlled by sovereign entities – the tribes. Therefore,
they are not subject to California state law unless the law is included
in an agreement known as a “Compact” between state or local
governments and the tribe; OR casino management voluntarily adopts
a smoke-free policy.
- Nearly 50 tribal casinos currently operate in 26 California counties.
They employee over 40,000 workers. At current rates of expansion,
the number of employees in tribal gaming and resort facilities is estimated
to reach over 75,000 within two years. Just less than twenty percent
(20%) of these employees are enrolled members of tribes.
- Current expansion of tribal casinos into tribal gaming resorts is
greatly increasing the number of workers on sovereign properties who
are unprotected by the California Smoke-free Workplace Law. For instance,
when hotel, restaurant and theatre facilities built by the Rumsey Band
in Capay Valley were completed in the summer of 2004, the Cache Creek
Casino and Resort became the largest employer in Yolo County, surpassing
UC Davis in number of employees.
- Smoke-free casinos in other locations have a proven track
record of economic success, such as the Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment
Company, which reported a 13.8% increase in gaming revenue since
Delaware went smoke-free in 2003.Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights
Update, Winter 2004.
Demonstrated Health Hazard and Cost to Taxpayers
- The World Health Organization, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
US Surgeon General and the California Environmental Protection Agency
have all certified second hand tobacco smoke
to be a Class A Carcinogen to which there is no safe level of exposure.EPA
Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking, Dec. 1992, California
EPA 1998
- Exposure on a regular basis to second hand smoke at work can cause
a 91% increase in coronary
heart disease. James Repace, Smoke-Free Casino Advocacy Guide, American
Indian Tobacco Education Partnership,
April 2004.
- Smoky casinos contain up to 50 times more cancer-causing airborne
particles than highways and city streets clogged with diesel trucks
at rush hour. This cancer-causing particulate is virtually eliminated
when indoor smoking bans are instituted. James Repace, Journal
of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, September, 2004.
- “Designated ‘no smoking areas’ in Australian gaming
clubs were found typically to provide 50% reduction
in exposure to second hand smoke. The protection afforded is
not comparable with the protection afforded
by prohibiting smoking on the premises.” T.Cains, S. Cannata,
R. Poulos et al. Tobacco Control
Journal, 2004.
- Scientific study has revealed that casino workers in a “well
ventilated” casino had cotinine (metabolized nicotine) levels
300-600% higher than in other workplaces during a work shift. D.
Trout, J. Decker et al. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine,
March 1998. Americans for
Nonsmokers’ Rights
(ANR), Secondhand Smoke and Casinos, Oct. 2004.
- The American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
Engineers (ASHRAE) acknowledge the finding of the California EPA that
no current air conditioning technology can adequately remove cancer-causing
particulate from the air. Therefore,
ASHRAE’s ventilation standards address only odor and haze,
not health. “ANSI Upholds Approval of ASHRAE Smoking
Addendum” www.csemag.com,
Sept.29, 2003. ANR, Secondhand Smoke and Casinos, Oct. 2004.
- The economic burden of smoking in California in 1999 amounted
to $15.8 billion dollars. The cost of smoking was $475 per Californian
and $3,331 per smoker. The cost of smoking to individual California
counties ranges from $392 per resident in Santa Clara County to $1,022
per resident in Trinity County.The Cost of Smoking In
California, W. Max, D. Rice et al; December 2002.
“A few hours in a casino may cost you more than
your paycheck. According to a new study, the amount of
secondhand cigarette smoke in a casino may present a substantial
cancer risk to nonsmokers. Researchers at the University
of Minnesota, found elevated levels of a cancer-causing agent,
NNAL, in the urine of nonsmokers after they spent just four hours
in a commercial casino. They also found elevated
levels of cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine in the samples. Both
NNAL and cotinine are specific to tobacco and were not found
in the nonsmokers’ urine before their casino visit.” Secondhand
Smoke is a Real Cancer Risk, Casino Study Shows -- ABC News
Dec.2003, Smoke-Free
Casino Advocacy Guide, American Indian Tobacco Education Partnership,
April 2004 |
Support for Smoke-free Tribal Casinos
- A survey of tribal casino guests and staff in California
revealed that 80%, including 98% of non-smokers, prefer to play or
work in a smoke-free environment. American Indian
Tobacco Education Network, 2003.
- 88.7% of all Californians agree that all indoor workplaces should
be smoke-free. California Adult Tobacco Survey, 1997.
“It [going smokefree] is just good business,”Mitchell
Etess, Executive Vice President of the Mohegan Sun Casino - Associated
Press, April 17, 2001;Casino Support for Smokefree Gambling,
Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights 2004.
Compiled by:
RESPECT, Resources and Education Supporting
People Everywhere Controlling Tobacco -- a statewide project of
the American Lung Association of the East Bay . Tel.
916-739-8925 respect@jps.net www.respect -ala.org
Made
possible with funds from the Tobacco Tax Health Protection Act of 1988—Proposition
99, under Grant Number 04-35307
California Department of Health
Services, Tobacco Control Section.
|
