Opinion: Smoking overwhelms at Suquamish Tribe's casino

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

The Clearwater Casino Resort in Suquamish, Washington. Photo from Facebook

"If you saw our Sunday story about visiting Suquamish and the new tribal museum there, you might have noticed we didn’t say much about the casino.

There was a reason for that. If you’ve gotten accustomed to breathing fresh air thanks to Washington state’s ban on smoking in indoor public places, you might be happy to stay out of tribal casinos that aren’t covered by that prohibition.

I’m a non-smoker — or can we just say “fresh-air breather”? — and I wasn’t inside the Suquamish Tribe’s Clearwater Casino for 15 minutes before my head started pounding, just like I remember from the bad old days when people smoked in the back of planes and buses. I needed a shower when I got back to my hotel room. That made it hard to recommend visiting the casino."

Get the Story:
Brian J. Cantwell: Will more casinos embrace non-smokers? (The Seattle Times 1/29)