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Many local governments have repealed smoking bans because they apparently injure business in the gambling industry.  Nevada, home of Las Vegas and thousands upon thousands of slot machines, is the first state to consider a revision of a smoking ban on a state level.

Casinos were exempt from the ban the forbade smoking in building that served food or had minors present, but bars and taverns have suffered a significant loss in business since the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act passed.  Smokers have abandoned the poker slot machines found in many bars for the Class III slot machines found in casinos, where they are allowed to smoke.

Any significant link between smoking bans and suffering businesses have been completely rejected by health advocates.  They insist that when left no other alternative, smokers are forced to adjust and the initial wane in business eventually resolves itself.  Almost half of the United States, 23 states, has imposed a ban on smoking indoors as both bars and restaurants.

There is some concern about pubic reaction if the Nevada government buckles under the pressure of the gambling industry.  According to public health program manager for the Washoe County Health District, Jennifer Stoll-Hadayia, more than half of the states voters supported the gambling ban in 2006.  She warns that the government will have to deal with a serious backlash from the public it the ban is altered.

Cancer survivor Senator John Lee, is firmly against in alteration of the smoking ban in Nevada.

 “One house says it’s O.K., if you’re over 21, to go ahead and kill yourself and everyone around you — ‘We think that’s great, it’s your freedom’ — but the other house says, ‘Wait a minute, my gosh, if they have cancer we’ve got to take care of them,’ ” said Lee.

“People don’t seem to see the connection between the two.”

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