Amend Nevada Clean Air Act to Require Non-Smoking Areas on Casino Floor

Amend Nevada Clean Air Act to Require Non-Smoking Areas on Casino Floor
The Nevada State Legislature should amend the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act to make the majority of the casino floor non-smoking.
Current estimates of the percentage of U.S. adults that smoke range from 12.5% to 16%. Estimates of the number of gamblers that smoke range from the same as the population as a whole to a few percentage points higher, about 22%.
Allowing smoking on the entire casino floor does not serve the majority of casino patrons, who do not smoke.
Casino operators need to attract new generations of gamblers. These people have never known smoking in public places.
There are at least 1,000 casinos and other gaming properties in the U.S. with 100% smokefree indoor air policies.
Current non-smoking areas are usually very small, surrounded by smoking, and almost never have popular games.
The Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act should be amended as follows:
- At least 75% of contiguous square-footage on the casino floor should be designated non-smoking.
- There should be a sufficient buffer zone between the smoking and non-smoking zones to minimize secondhand smoke infiltration.
- Slot games and video poker paytables cannot be exclusive to the smoking zone. A non-smoker should never be forced to play in the smoking zone.