To the editor:

The American Gaming Association just released the results of its annual poll on gambling attitudes and habits, stating “Casino visitors are a portrait of the American electorate, and voters are giving policymakers permission to treat casinos like any other business.” If that’s the case, policymakers should take that permission and make our casinos 100 percent smoke-free, just like almost every other business.

More than 500 casinos and other gambling facilities successfully operate with 100% smoke-free facilities in the United States, including several owned by gambling corporations well known to many Nevadans, in Ohio, (Caesars Horseshoe, Penn National Hollywood facilities), Maryland (Maryland Live! and Baltimore’s soon to open Horseshoe Casino), and Colorado (Isle of Capris, Ameristar Mountain High Casino), to name a few.

Polling has shown that 84% of Mesquite voters believe it is important to have a smoke-free environment in all workplaces.

The reason smoking should be eliminated from all places of work is there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Ventilation systems do not alleviate the health risk of indoor smoking; the only solution is 100% smoke-free indoor environments. It’s time for Mesquite’s casinos to be treated just like almost any other business in the state.

Sincerely yours,

Donald Wayne Hendon, Ph.D. (Mesquite resident since 2003)