Health Advocates Prep for August Smoking Ban in Shreveport Casinos
Posted on: June 5, 2021, 01:21h.
Last updated on: July 19, 2021, 01:26h.
Advocates for smoke-free casinos and bars met in Shreveport this week to prepare the northwest Louisiana city for a smoking ban beginning Aug. 1
In June 2020, the Shreveport City Council passed an ordinance banning smoking in bars, casinos, and gaming facilities, according to the Shreveport Times.
Representatives of Smoke-Free Louisiana and the Region 7 Louisiana Healthy Communities Coalition met at the Sand Bar in downtown Shreveport on June 3 to answer questions about the upcoming ban.
The Smoke Free Air Act was to take effect in August 2020. However, the City County, concerned about job losses during the coronavirus pandemic, pushed the ban for casinos back to Aug. 1, 2021, according to Biz magazine. Some officials expressed concern that smokers would bypass Shreveport casinos and go to nearby resorts where smoking isn’t banned.
“We can talk about secondhand smoke all day long in these casinos and what it does to the employees. But if those employees don’t have a job, it’s going to be worse,” Councilman Grayson Boucher said last year.
Louisiana has 13 riverboat casinos, one land-based casino in New Orleans, and four racinos. Throughout the state, numerous bars and truck stops are equipped with video poker machines.?
Two riverboat casinos are on the Red River in Shreveport, according to the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau website. The gambling halls and horse track east of the Red River in Bossier City and elsewhere in the area would not be required to abide by the Shreveport smoking ban.
‘Reduced Consumer Demand’
Shreveport is the 30th municipality in Louisiana to implement “a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance,” said Randy Hayden, a Louisiana-based consultant for Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights.
Quite a few states have already passed the statewide laws, and other states are doing what Louisiana is doing, which that is kind of nickel and diming it, community by community,” Hayden told the Shreveport Times. Hayden is president of Creative Communications in Baton Rouge.
Louisiana’s largest cities with casinos, including Baton Rouge and New Orleans, already have passed ordinances banning smoking in casinos. Lake Charles is the most populous city in Louisiana without a smoke-free ordinance to include casinos and bars, according to the newspaper.?
Some in the industry contend that gamblers who like to smoke won’t go to casinos where it is banned. Wade Duty, executive director of the Louisiana Casino Association, told Casino.org?that smoking bans lead to “reduced consumer demand” for casino gambling.
Smoking Bans in Las Vegas
In Las Vegas, Park MGM on the Strip banned smoking last fall after “continued guest requests,” according to Anton Nikodemus, an MGM Resorts executive. NoMad Las Vegas, a luxury “hotel-within-a-hotel” at Park MGM, also has banned smoking.
Park MGM and NoMad are among a small number of casinos on the Strip either to ban or limit smoking.
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas last year banned smoking from some public spaces, but not the gaming floor.?When Resorts World Las Vegas opens on the Strip on June 24, it will be smoke-free throughout the property except inside the casino, President Scott Sibella told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Hayden told Casino.org that younger casino patrons are health conscious and don’t want to work or gamble in smoke-filled settings. With hundreds of casinos now located across the country, patrons can choose nonsmoking resorts close to home, he said.
“Gamblers now recognize they can locally have a ‘what happens in Vegas’ outing and not have to choke their way through that experience,” Hayden said.
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Last Comment ( 1 )
I feel I need to comment on the Louisiana Legislation, that would ban smoking at the State's legal casinos. Back in the early 1990's, I was hired as a consultant to the Delta Queen Steamboat Company, to assist the Legislature and State Police draft the Casino Riverboat bill and later, the rules and regulations of casino gaming. I had in 1977, worked with Governor Edwards on his attempt to put a casino in the newly built Super Dome, and in 1987 convinced him that a single mega land based casino in New Orleans, was more sensible that allowing every 500 room hotel to have it's own casino. I testified, along with the Governor and N.O. Mayor, Sidney Bartholomew;all supporting the single casino to be located on the Levy, next to the 1,600 room Hilton. The site now houses the New Orleans Aquarium.??The question of smoking in casinos has been an ongoing issue for the industry, especially in States like Illinois which passed a no smoking bill on their riverboat casinos. on January 1st. 2008.I am a lifetime non smoker and prefer to visit establishments that have no smoking areas, but I don't see the need to stop a legal pursuit for adults. If the State of Louisiana is so concerned about the negative impacts of smoking, why not ban the sale or manufacture of cigarettes in the State. Although that decision would have a devastating impact on State Sales taxes; considering the disproportionately higher tax on a pack of cigarettes.But restricting smoking from restaurants, bars, casinos and other public areas, does nothing to protect children, at home, when adults have no other place to smoke and/or entertain friends. Perhaps some parents go outside for a smoke, but what happens in cold or in-climate weather?I agree with casino employees that they should not be required to work in a smoking environment, subject to second hand smoke. But what about smoking rooms, separate from the main casino; that only permit smoking employees to service this gaming area? Clearly governments can set the standards for their work places, but the private sector should be able to do the same, as long as the non smoking public and employees are protected.?Non smoking on riverboat casinos, started in Illinois, on January 1, 2008. I prepared a study on the impact of the smoking ban on the 4 Chicago area riverboats. The casino win? in 2008 declined from $1.33 billion to $1,04 billion (a 20.6% decline), but Lake County Indiana's 4 riverboat casinos, serving the same market, were? down only 6/10 of 1 percent.? Illinois attendance was down 14.1% and the win per visitor dropped from $141.83 to $129.05 in 2008. In 2010, before the introduction of a 5th Chicago riverboat, the win was down to $858 million (32.8% lower than 2007), win taxes down by 48.1% and admissions 24.4% lower than 2007.Louisiana casino workers, should be just as concerned as ownership, on the negative impact non smoking restrictions will have on casino win, as the number of visitors to their casinos decline; as current customers find casinos in other states (that don't ban smoking). Also affecting the win is the reduction in playing time at the slots and tables, while taking a smoke break. The impact on casino win may not be as severe as Illinois, but consider the number of jobs lost and possible casinos closed, if this law passes.Employees should join management by encouraging casino legislation, that requires separate casino rooms for smokers, and only permits smoking employees to serve and deal in this special room.?Steven Norton