72% in Las Vegas Advisor poll back smoke-free air in casinos

Poll results were posted on Aug. 20. The poll, open from Aug. 5 to 18, posed a broad question: Should smoking be prohibited in casinos around the country where it’s still permitted? Respondents then chose one of 13 statements to best reflect their beliefs.

The top seven choices among the 1,523 respondents were:


    Even in a staunch gambling state like Nevada, smoking indoors is banned everywhere except casinos (and some bars that don’t serve food), so I believe it should be banned in the casinos too (353 votes, or 23.2% of total).

    I strongly believe that smoking should be banned in casinos, but I don’t think it will be; the casinos are too afraid of the lost revenue (296 votes, 19.4%).

    I’m in favor of small smoking areas in casinos isolated by walls and a door with powerful ventilation systems (233 votes, 15.3%)
    It should be up to the casinos to determine whether or not smoking is allowed and not the government via legal intervention (110 votes, 7.2%).
    I will patronize only casinos that have banned smoking (102 votes, 6.7%)
    I believe smoking should be allowed in casinos (97 votes, 6.4%)
    Smoking in casinos is one of the reasons I go to Las Vegas (76 votes, 5%)

LVA editor Deke Castleman, who oversees and writes analyses of the twice-a-month polls, said seven of the 13 options indicated a desire to restrict smoking. Because respondents could choose only one statement, he added those results together. Overall, 72% of respondents favor a smoking ban or limiting smoking to rooms separated from the casino floor.

The poll was open to anyone viewing the LVA website, but only subscribers could post comments. Castleman said that unlike most polls about smoking, this one was created specifically for gamblers. Castleman said LVA readers tend to visit Las Vegas more often, spend more, and stay longer than typical tourists.

In many states, including Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, casino gaming floors are among the last places where smokers can light up in public. States ban smoking in most workplaces, businesses, and entertainment venues, but many casinos have won exemptions based on the argument that a ban reduces gaming revenue, and thus tax revenue as well.

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened awareness of the airborne transmission of viruses and of public health steps to guard against it.

Smokefreecasinos.org, a project of the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, has compiled a list of more than 150 tribal and commercial casinos across the country that have banned smoking, at least temporarily, in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown. In addition, more than 800 casinos and other gaming facilities were smoke-free pre-COVID-19.

After seeing the LVA poll results, ANR advocacy director Bronson Frick said some nonsmoking sites have seen an increase in players club signups and a reduction in costs. He encouraged casinos that still allow smoking to survey players club members and workers about it.

“The bottom line is people don’t come to Vegas for the secondhand smoke,” he said, noting that 90% of young adults are nonsmokers.

Castleman cautioned against considering this a tipping point for the smoke-free casino movement.

“I wouldn’t call it a watershed moment by any stretch of the imagination,” he said. Until a vaccine or effective treatment for novel coronavirus is developed, many casino aficionados will stay away for fear of infection.

Even if the COVID-19 threat subsides quickly and some newly nonsmoking casinos remain that way, they will need at least a year to determine the cost of a ban, he said.

“Like anything else with this pandemic, it’s going to take a long time to unravel the economic impact. So I think smoking is a little low on the list of variables that can be determined,” Castleman said.

While much has been written about the hazards of smoking, few studies or polls focus specifically on smoking in casinos.

What is believed to be the first scientific study of casino visitors’ attitudes on smoking was published in the March 2019 “Public Health Reports,” the journal of the U.S. Public Health Service and surgeon general’s office. It found that 75% of American adults favor smoke-free casinos.