Smoke-free casinos spread

On Nov. 10, South Dakota became the 16th state with legal gambling to protect casino workers with a complete ban on smoking in commercial casinos.

On Nov. 2, the state’s voters gave landslide approval to Referred Law 12, which also bans smoking in all restaurants, bars, package liquor stores, video lottery establishments.

Even before the South Dakota action, Americans for Non-smokers Rights had said that because of the number of state smoke-free laws, “keeping casinos smoke-filled is no longer the status quo.”

Nevada has no-smoking rules, but they are filled with exceptions and loopholes. One Nevada casino, the Fernley Nugget, is voluntarily smoke-free.