Denogean: Tribes: Snuff the butts at casinos
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The Navajo Nation recently came close to doing the right thing and beginning a smoking ban in all public areas, including its future casinos.
It was close, but no cigar, as concern for casino profits took precedence over tribal health, as has been true with nearly every tribe that enters into the gaming business.
Apparently, they've learned too well the ways of the white man, who also refuses to let customer or worker health concerns stand in the way of maximizing profits in his smoke-filled casinos.
All four Tucson-area casinos - two run by the Pascua Yaqui and two by the Tohono O'odham - allow smoking, with some designated nonsmoking areas. Representatives from both tribes declined to comment for this column.
On July 25, the Navajo Nation Council voted to ban use of commercial tobacco in public buildings and in shared public air space at outdoor venues. On Aug. 8, tribal President Joe Shirley Jr. rejected the measure, in large part, because he feared it would hurt business at the planned Navajo casinos.
The Navajo will open their first casino this fall in Church Rock, N.M., and eventually hope to open as many as six casinos in Arizona and New Mexico. Banning smoking would put the Nation at a "competitive disadvantage," Shirley said in his veto message.
Council delegate Thomas Walker Jr., who represents the southwestern portion of the Nation in Arizona, sponsored the anti-tobacco legislation.
Though he described the measure during a phone interview as a health law, not a casino law, he said he is concerned that some 200 employees in each casino would be exposed to secondhand smoke for eight to 10 hours each working day.
And he questioned whether a no-smoking policy really would hurt the planned casinos.
"How do we know we would be the least attractive casino if we banned smoking?" asked Walker, who's hoping the council will override the veto.
In fact, going smoke-free could have the opposite effect.
The gaming industry has long claimed that 70 percent of its customer are smokers, but recent research out of the University of Nevada, Reno, debunked the myth, finding that 4 of 5 casino customers are nonsmokers. And a survey of 1,700 California gamblers released by J.D. Powers and Associates last month found that 85 percent would prefer a smoke-free environment.
Casino operators across the country are adding nonsmoking areas and improving their air ventilation systems. But only a few have taken the courageous and ethical step of going completely smoke-free.
For the Taos Pueblo tribe of northern New Mexico, which operates the Taos Mountain Casino, the decision to go "100 percent smoke-free" has set it apart, in a good way, from the rest of state's casinos.
The Taos Pueblo entered gaming with a tobacco-free, 10-machine slot room in 1994. It was a success from Day One when people waited outside in a snowstorm to get in, said Marc Kaplan, marketing director for the casino.
Even smokers liked the non-smoking policy because "they were happy that they didn't have to get other people's smoke in their hair and clothing," Kaplan said.
When the Taos Pueblo expanded the slot room into a casino in 1997, there was no doubt it would remain smoke-free, he said.
Kaplan said if other casinos went the same route, they'd be surprised at how many more nonsmoking gamblers would come in and at how much longer those customers would stay.
Taos Mountain has exceeded the tribe's financial expectations, Kaplan said. Customers come from many miles away to play in a smoke-free environment. And the smoking ban helps the casino keep its expenses down.
In comments made in April at a meeting of the Southwest Navajo Tobacco Education Prevention Project, Kaplan estimated that Taos Mountain saves 20 percent on its property, casualty and risk management insurance results because of the policy.
Casino employees call in sick less frequently because they aren't exposed to second-hand smoke, he said. And less illness has meant better HMO rates.
The casino has no cigarette burns on the bar stools, the chairs or the carpeting, all of which are expensive to replace, repair or clean.
The doors, walls and slot machines require less cleaning. And the casino never has to buy ashtrays or matches.
As someone who has enjoyed concerts, dining, dancing and gambling at all four Tucson-area casinos, I've always thought the tribes were doing a disservice to their customers and their employees, many of whom are Native Americans, by allowing smoking.
What's sad about it is they don't have to sacrifice people for profit. The Taos Mountain experience proves that a smoke-free casino can have both healthy profits and healthy people.
Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767. Her columns run Tuesdays and Fridays.
Do you want certain colors banned because they cause you to to have seizures??
How about banning Flourscent lights?? Same thing!!
Some people freak out at certain noises..Let's make shure we BAN THEM..
RAP Music probably causes more deaths per year than smoking does, just due to the violent nature of it. Let's make sure we BAN Crap music from ANY place that someone might hear it-INCLUDING BARS-Oh Wait!!If you don't like Crap Music at a Bar, then you can go to ANOTHER BAR that doesn't PLAY CRAP MUSIC....
Gee, Rowan-EVER THINK OF THAT???
Of COURSE NOT-You and your ilk would rather screw EVERYONE over-To justify your Self Righteous Attitude..
Coming from an X-Smoker
Hey Rowan-Please post again where you have the right to INVADE a BAR, where Smoking and Drinking have been going on for Decades, and proclaim yourself GOD, and force the Bar and it's patrons to stop something they have been doing for years and years and years-Just because YOU SAY SO..
Too CHEAP to pool your money together with your "Friends" and open your OWN NON-SMOKING Bar???
Or do you feel it is your GOD GIVEN RIGHT to F@@c everyone else over??