Colorado Casinos Will Stay Smoke Free
A legislative proposal to allow smoking permits in Colorado's casinos and bars has been withdrawn today. The proposal would have allowed for indoor smoking in all of Colorado's 40 casinos and in bars across the state by obtaining a smoking permit.
"We are relieved that the rights of workers and the public to breathe clean air in casinos is still protected." stated Stephanie Steinberg, Chairwoman of Smoke-Free Gaming of Colorado. "This is a health issue and government should serve to protect people from the harm caused from breathing secondhand smoke, not condone it. Breathing is not a choice."
The proposal was titled, "Cigar-tobacco bar permits," and would have allowed for cigarette and cigar smoking. The proposal was actually a "smoking-permit bill."
Colorado was the first commercial casino state to pass a law requiring casinos to be 100% smoke free. The smoke-free casino law was effective Jan. 1, 2008 the same effective date that Illinois' casinos went smoke free.
Secondhand smoke contains 4,000 chemicals, 50 of which are cancer causing. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. The only way to eliminate exposure is to ban indoor smoking.
The parent organization, Smoke-Free Gaming, does advocacy and outreach for commercial and tribal casinos across the U.S. to be 100% smoke free. They can be found at: www.smokefreegaming.org
