Advocates make connection to indoor smoking as Problem Gambling Awareness Month begins

Berkeley, CA— On the eve of Problem Gambling Awareness Month, advocates for smokefree casinos are making the connection between permitting indoor smoking and gambling addiction.

“As Problem Gambling Awareness Month begins, it’s clearer than ever that indoor smoking and problem gambling are intertwined. This is just another reason why it’s time for state legislatures to close casino smoking loopholes in state law and finally end indoor smoking,” said Cynthia Hallett, president and CEO of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. “As noted by experts and industry veterans, the link between problem gambling and tobacco addiction is significant. By permitting indoor smoking, casinos hinder the crucial practice of taking breaks, an essential tenet of responsible gaming. While casinos may tout their dedication to promoting responsible play, their allowance of indoor smoking contradicts this commitment. It’s time for legislators to close the casino smoking loophole which would improve workplace conditions and health outcomes for casino employees as well as encourage guests to prioritize their well-being by taking breaks.”

Background
A recent study from the Rutgers Center for Gambling Studies found New Jersey has roughly triple the national average for adults estimated to have problem gambling issues. The report also highlights the comorbidity of problem gambling and smoking: “high-risk problem gamblers had the highest rates of tobacco use (77.6%).”

The leading organization dealing with gambling addiction has warned state legislators that continuing to allow indoor smoking at casinos will only continue to encourage gambling addiction. In a letter to New Jersey lawmakers, the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) wrote, “given this association between smoking and problem gambling, NCPG believes that making casinos smokefree is likely to reduce the incidence of problem gambling and improve public health.”

Columnist and gaming expert Richard Schuetz explains how casino executives are ignoring the comorbidity of problem gambling and indoor smoking policies. Schuetz pointed out that the industry’s hypocrisy extends to the treatment of their employees, as they fight to maintain indoor smoking policies that expose thousands of frontline workers to dangerous secondhand smoke. He wrote, “It is no coincidence that casinos fight to keep smoking legal and that there is a high comorbidity between gambling disorders and smoking. If casinos continue to put this welcome mat out for the problem gambler, they are part of the problem, not the solution.”