DENVER-
A year after banning smoking in bars and restaurants, Colorado could also outlaw lighting up in casinos.
A proposal (House Bill 1269) to extend the ban to gambling houses was backed Thursday by the House Health and Human Services Committee, sending the issue on to the full House.
Supporters believe they have enough votes to pass the measure in the House, but are uncertain about its prospects in the Senate. The Senate killed the first smoking ban proposal in 2005 but last year voted 19-15 to back the ban, which exempted casinos.
Ed Smith, owner of the Wild Card casino, one of the few “mom and pop” casinos in Black Hawk, said there wasn’t room on his property to build an outdoor smoking area since it’s surrounded by other casinos.
John Bohannan of the larger Isle of Capri casino in Black Hawk predicted casinos would lose 20 to 35 percent of their business if smoking was banned, costing the state millions in tax revenue. He said the only states that saw an increase despite a smoking ban had expanded gambling at the same time.
Supporters of the ban included veteran’s groups, which lost their bid to have their halls exempted earlier this session, two doctors, a nurse and gamblers who said they avoid the casinos in the three historic mountain towns where gambling is allowed—Cripple Creek, Black Hawk and Central City.
Daniel Soteres, a Colorado Springs physician, told lawmakers that they need to protect people who work in casinos as well as employees in restaurants, bars and other workplaces without an exemption. He said he tested urine samples from 42 nonsmoking casino workers—both those who worked on the casino floor and in casino restaurants—and found all had significant levels of the nicotine byproduct cotinine. He said 7 percent of the workers had levels equivalent to that of smokers.
“We must help casino workers. The chips are stacked against them and the dice are loaded. They cannot beat the house without our help,” said Soteres, who specializes in treating asthma and allergies.
Brandy Skottegaard, a senior at Cripple Creek-Victor Junior Senior High School, said she works in a Starbucks in a building housing two casinos in Cripple Creek and blames the smoke in there for causing headaches and making her more susceptible to the flu. She said many other teens work in casinos because there aren’t many other places they can work in town.
“It’s like a race between anyone 16 and 18 to get a job,” Skottegaard said.
