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Casinos Offer a Healthier Alternative with Non-Smoking Areas

``Casinos -- one of the few remaining places where people can indulge in drinking, smoking, eating and gambling -- are moving to accommodate customers who say they want a smoke-free place to play the slots.

``Officials at the Mohegan Sun, on the Mohegan Indian reservation in southeast Connecticut, said they converted its bingo hall into the smoke-free ''Hall of the Lost Tribes,'' because a nonsmoking gambling area was the number-one request from customers.

``…Until about five years ago, gambling in a casino meant hanging out in a smoke-filled room, said John Shelk, vice president for the American Gaming Association. After restaurants and other public places went nonsmoking, the movement began spreading to the gambling halls.

…In fact, Nevada lawmakers introduced a state bill to require nonsmoking areas in all gambling areas. But the legislation met with heavy resistance from the gambling industry.

``The state's top casino lobbyist said up to 60 percent of casino visitors smoke and resorts should have the final say in whether to outlaw smoking in some areas…"

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