CEASE: “We Are Begging for Them to Open the Norfolk Casino as a Non-Smoking Facility”
Norfolk, VA — On October 30, Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) Virginia, and public health advocates held a press conference at the groundbreaking ceremony for Boyd Gaming and the Pamunkey Indian Tribe’s new $750M Norfolk, VA, casino, calling on the casino operators to implement a comprehensive smokefree policy to protect casino employees and patrons from the dangers of secondhand smoke.
Juana Wilson says she quit her job at Rivers Casino Portsmouth because of the smoking environment inside, and claims after leaving that job she had to go back on an inhaler. “I’ve lived it, and it’s horrible having to try to work an eight-hour shift constantly breathing smoke,” Wilson said. “The casino dealers have to sit at a table sometimes with five smokers less than two feet away, blowing smoke right in their faces.”
Bronson Frick, Director of Advocacy at ANR, remarked on WHRO News Radio that opening another smoky casino will result in a cost to the community in terms of health outcomes. Listen to news clip here.
Casino Employees Against Smoking (Harmful) Effects (CEASE) is a group of thousands of casino dealers and other frontline gaming workers that formed after indoor smoking returned on July 4, 2021 in Atlantic City, NJ and has expanded to states around the country. CEASE is fighting to permanently remove smoking from our workplaces. For more information, visit ceasesmoking.org.
Read more about smokefree casinos.
See the Real Deal Videos about CEASE.
