Smoking and gambling go together. At least that’s the claim made by casino operators in the Kansas City area, where people are allowed to light up on the gambling floors.
But something else goes together with smoking: cancer and other costly health-related problems suffered by employees and casino customers.
Today, more states such as Illinois and Colorado are banning the harmful habit throughout their casinos. Kansas and Missouri officials also ought to be working toward providing smoke-free environments in all gambling facilities.
It won’t be easy, unfortunately. Missouri has refused to approve a state law that outlaws smoking in public buildings. It likely will take new ordinances in Kansas City, Riverside and North Kansas City to eliminate smoking in those cities’ casinos.
In Kansas, the current statewide smoke-free law does not include gambling floors. State lawmakers should rectify that mistake in the 2013 session.
Smoking is harmful. Responsible public officials should push to ban it in public places — including all local casinos.
