Casino news source: Beacon News - http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com
Casinos seek smoking ban exemption
September 24, 2007
By Rowena Vergara Staff Writer
AURORA -- Eighteen states across the country are now smoke-free; and come January, Illinois will join their ranks.
While more states are banning smoking in respect to the 80 percent of the United States population that does not light up, there are many dissenters.
» Click to enlarge image
The state casino association has asked for an exemption to the smoking ban for five years or until a state bordering Illinois passes a smoking ban.
(STNG File)
In Illinois, the latest group to dispute the statewide smoking ban is the casino industry.
With nine casinos from Aurora to Alton, the Illinois Casino Gaming Association claims it will lose millions of dollars if the state bans smoking from all indoor places.
Simultaneously, the state Senate passed a casino bill Tuesday that would bring three new casinos to the state -- one in Chicago and two in unnamed locations.
The state casino association has asked for an exemption to the ban for five years or until a state bordering Illinois passes a smoking ban, "whichever comes first," said Tom Swoik, director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association.
Although the Senate removed the exemption from the casino bill, House lawmakers still must review it. A casino smoking exemption is also threaded throughout many other live amendments, not specifically linked to the widely publicized casino bill, said Kathy Drea, director of the Smoke-Free Illinois campaign.
So is an exemption necessary for casinos in Illinois, including Hollywood Casino in Aurora?
Swoik estimated about 70 percent of casino patrons smoke. If 1,000 people were on a gaming floor, that equates to about 700 smoking patrons, a figure that Drea, also the director of Public Policy for the American Lung Association of Illinois, finds hard to believe. The association sponsored its own study of an Illinois casino that produced much different results.
Here's a look at the two sides.
Casinos should be exempt
Swoik says Illinois casinos could see a drop in revenue of 20 percent. That could cost the state $144 million per year.
In Aurora alone, about 1.5 million visited Hollywood Casino in 2005, according to its Web site.
Swoik said those numbers could all decline if smoking is banned from casinos. At least that's what happened in Canada.
Last year, 300 workers were laid off at the Casino Windsor in Ontario, Canada. Management there mainly blamed it on a province-wide smoking ban. Revenue slipped 20 percent, according to news reports.
Swoik contends casinos here have taken bold steps to improve air quality inside their facilities. If an exemption is voted down, Swoik is prepared to fight for more alternatives.
"We'll do some things to help those who want to smoke still to allow them to come to the casino," he said.
No exceptions to the ban
Casinos in the state may market themselves as having exceptional air quality, but it is unclear how it is tested. Swoik said he is not aware of any air-quality tests that are required of casinos.
But the American Lung Association in August conducted a study of its own addressing air quality at an Illinois casino and released results in time for a Senate hearing on a casino exemption.
The Casino Queen of East St. Louis was deemed to have "very unhealthy air quality levels" during two three-hour visits to the newly opened facility, according to a study by the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and spearheaded by the American Lung Association of Illinois.
Visits to Casino Queen found that 6 to 7 percent of patrons smoked on the gaming floor -- nowhere near the 70 percent figure estimated by Slowik.
"It was the same people lighting one cigarette after another," she said.
Drea argues that ventilation is not effective; a complete smoking ban is.
But Swoik questions the study, saying the brand-new facility may not have had its purification system completely up and running.
"There were still things like drywall dust in the air," he said. "We just don't know how accurate the study was."
Drea also said that contrary to popular belief, the public prefers non-smoking establishments.
After a smoking ban was put into effect late last year in Springfield, sales tax from Springfield eating and drinking establishments jumped nearly 10 percent from the previous year when there was no smoking ban, according to the Springfield Journal Register. |
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