Casinos want to clear the air on smoking rules

Publication Date: 2006-07-19

• Author:Joanne Kelley
• Publication:Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)

The new law remains hazy when it comes to casinos.

State lawmakers intended to exempt gambling establishments when they prohibited smoking in workplaces starting July 1, but they recently discovered a loophole allowing casino workers to demand smoke-free workplaces. Another gray area in the new law: whether casino restaurants can still allow smoking areas or must smoking be confined to the areas of casinos where gaming actually takes place.

"It would certainly be helpful if they wrote a clarifying piece of legislation," said Steve Roark, president of Jacobs Entertainment, which owns The Lodge and Gilpin Casinos along Main Street in this limited-stakes gaming town.

So far, gaming parlors here say they've yet to get any requests from workers demanding a smoke-free environment. But an anti-smoking group now says Colorado casino workers have been asking this week for advice on how to broach the subject with their bosses.