Gaming News

Smoke in Casinos Can Hurt Seniors

OHIO -- As reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer: "Casinos typically allow smoking in most areas, reserving only small smoke-free zones. Just one casino in the nation is entirely smoke-free, Taos Mountain Casino in Taos, N.M. Many gambling emporiums have no smoke-free areas.

"This is bad news for older people. They lose at least 1 percent of their lung capacity each year.

"At the riverboat casinos in southeast Indiana, smokers rule. Belterra Casino Resort has no non-smoking section. Argosy Casino & Hotel has two non-smoking areas.

"Grand Victoria has a non-smoking room - where doors remain open, letting in a faint haze - occupying one-third of the boat's top gambling deck.

"Casinos are one of the few public places in America allowing widespread smoking 'because customers request it,' says Scott Cooper, Grand Victoria manager.

"'But one hour of exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to increased emergency room admissions for the elderly,' says Dr. John Howington, chief of thoracic surgery at Cincinnati's University Hospital...."

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