“It’s definitely a public health win and shows an added benefit of not only protecting workers, but also patrons,” King explained. “If all these casinos remain smoke-free post-COVID-19, this could have an immeasurable impact in terms of not only protecting the public who attend these venues, but also workers who are working eight hours or more per day in these environments,” King concluded.<\/p>\n
Smoke prevalence among US adults has declined dramatically over the decades. The CDC says 14 percent of US adults aged 18 years or older currently smoke cigarettes. That equates to an estimated 34.1 million Americans who are considered to be smokers.<\/p>\n
While the vast majority of the US population are no longer smokers, in casinos they represent a larger share of the demographic.<\/p>\n
\nCertainly, there is a perception that smokers are very serious gamblers, and I think that definitely factors into this perception that people who smoke, while numerically they\u2019re a minority of the customer base, they might generate a lot more of the casino revenue,” explained David Schwartz, a gaming historian and former UNLV professor.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
It’s why Schwartz believes smoking will return indoors to many casinos that are currently smoke-free.<\/p>\n
“Historically, casino operators have been loath to limit smoking since there is a positive correlation between smoking and gambling,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An official at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said this week that more casinos going smoke-free is a silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Brian King, the deputy director for research in the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said more than 200 commercial and tribal casinos have reopened as smoke-free facilities. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":166310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
CDC Official Says Smoke-Free Casinos Are Pandemic's Silver Lining<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n