ANR Urges Legislators to Push for 100% Smokefree Casinos
New Orleans, LA — As legislators and industry lobbyists gather for the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) Winter Meeting at Caesars New Orleans this week, they should take inspiration from the thriving smokefree casino. Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) is calling on legislators attending NCLGS to draw from smokefree New Orleans and support comprehensive smokefree legislation in their jurisdictions as several states face critical legal and legislative battles to end indoor smoking in casinos.
“The success of Caesars Entertainment and the thriving New Orleans economy, along with the resounding public support for smokefree policies, squarely refutes the industry scare tactics about what will happen if the casino smoking loophole is closed,” said ANR President and CEO Cynthia Hallett. “We don’t have to guess what will happen in Atlantic City and elsewhere — we can just look at the example of Caesars in New Orleans. We are calling on legislators to protect workers across the country by closing casino smoking loopholes and passing comprehensive smokefree legislation in their states.”
Next month, New Orleans will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of its comprehensive smokefree legislation. While widely opposed by the gaming industry at the time, the policy has brought economic growth to the city’s tourism and entertainment industries while keeping working people such as casino workers and musicians who perform in casinos and other venues safe from toxic secondhand smoke. After six months of the law being in effect, polls showed support from almost 80% of New Orleans voters — an increase of more than 10% — demonstrating its success.
Despite the company’s dire predictions, Caesars Entertainment has seen enormous success since the ordinance went into effect. Caesars recently completed a $435 million renovation on its New Orleans property and was able to purchase the naming rights of the Superdome. Still, Caesars has maintained its stance on smoking, even attempting to dismiss a shareholder proposal that would study the financial and health benefits of implementing a smokefree policy. Despite the company’s opposition, 35.2 million shareholder proxy votes were cast in favor of conducting a study, easily surpassing the threshold required for a proposal in its first year to be brought back for a vote at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in 2025.
Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) is urging legislators to fulfill a 2009 NCLGS resolution calling for 100% smokefree commercial and tribal casinos by enacting comprehensive indoor smokefree legislation around the country. As witnessed in New Orleans, smokefree legislation has the power to protect workers’ health and safety while maintaining vibrant local economies. It’s time to follow in New Orleans’s footsteps by closing casino smoking loopholes in all 50 states.
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ABOUT AMERICANS FOR NONSMOKERS’ RIGHTS Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR), sister organization to ANR Foundation, is a member-supported, non-profit advocacy group that has been working for nearly 50 years, since 1976, to protect everyone’s right to breathe nontoxic air in workplaces and public places, from offices and airplanes to restaurants, bars, and casinos. ANR has continuously shined a light on the tobacco industry’s interference with sound and life-saving public health measures and successfully protected 61% of the population with local or statewide smokefree workplace, restaurant, and bar laws. ANR aims to close gaps in smokefree protections for workers in all workplaces, including bars, music venues, casinos, and hotels. For more information, please visit https://nonsmokersrights.org and https://smokefreecasinos.org.
