Editorial: Wisconsin tribes should ax smoking at gaming facilities

Friday, July 9, 2010  

"Bars and restaurants across Wisconsin are now smoke-free.

The state's many American Indian casinos should be, too.

The tribes owe it to their employees to provide a healthy work environment. Secondhand smoke is particularly dangerous for people who have to work in smoky workplaces all day every day.

Banning smoking inside casinos also would please the tribes' many non-smoking customers, while those who still smoke could simply step outside to light up.

So far, the tribes are stubbornly sticking with smoking at most of their casinos out of fear they'll lose business to other casinos. But if all of the tribes agreed to ban indoor smoking, any competitive concerns would vanish along with the thick haze of cigarette smoke stinking up their facilities and harming public health.

At least one Wisconsin tribe is experimenting with smoking bans at smaller gambling outlets that are connected to convenience stores. The Oneida in northeastern Wisconsin just made two of its remote Oneida One Stops smoke-free on June 1, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette."

Get the Story:
American Indian tribes in Wisconsin should ban smoking at casinos, too (The Wisconsin State Journal 7/9)

Related Stories:
Oneida Nation tests smoke-free policy at two gaming facilities (7/6)