Hedging their bets: tobacco and gambling industries work against smoke-free policies

Abstract

Objective:To describe and understand the relationship between the tobacco and gambling industries in connection to their collaborative efforts to prevent smoke-free casinos and gambling facilities and fight smoke-free policies generally.Methods:Analysis of tobacco industry documents available online (accessed between February and December 2003).Results:The tobacco industry has worked to convince the gambling industry to fight against smoke-free environments. Representatives of the gambling industry with ties to the tobacco industry oppose smoke-free workplaces by claiming that smoke-free environments hurt gambling revenue and by promoting ventilation as a solution to secondhand smoke. With help from the tobacco industry, the gambling industry has become a force at the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers opposing smoke-free ventilation standards for the hospitality industry.Conclusion:Tobacco industry strategies to mobilise the gambling industry to oppose smoke-free environments are consistent with past strategies to co-opt the hospitality industry and with strategies to influence policy from behind the scenes. Tobacco control advocates need to be aware of the connections between the tobacco and gambling industries in relation to smoke-free environments and work to expose them to the public and to policy makers.

The Community Readiness Model: Evaluating Local Smoke-Free Policy Development

“…Tobacco companies, hospitality coalitions, restaurant associations, gambling organizations, licensed beverage associations, and smokers' rights groups often campaign actively against smoke-free laws (Dearlove, Bialous & Glantz, 2002;Mandel & Glantz, 2004;Tsoukalas & Glantz, 2003). These groups deliberately promote state preemption laws, indoor ventilation alternatives, and claim that business owners will lose money if comprehensive smoke-free policies are enacted (Americans for Nonsmokers ' Rights, 2005).…”

Perceptions of ceremonial and nonceremonial uses of tobacco by American-Indian adolescents in California

“…Tobacco industry documents have shown that the tobacco industry has lobbied against smoke-free policies in casinos by trying to convince casino owners that smoke-free policies will decrease their revenue and that ventilation systems are an adequate alternative [12]. These activities by the tobacco industry also may convince the owners of American-Indian casinos not to institute smoke-free policies.…”

Protecting the World From Secondhand Tobacco Smoke Exposure: Where Do We Stand and Where Do We Go From Here?

“…Worldwide, the industry has secretly hired consultants, sponsored symposia, financed research, and engaged in lobbying in order to fuel the controversy on the relationship between SHS and disease (Barnoya & Glantz, 2002;Hammond & Assunta, 2003;Muggli et al, 2003;Repace, 2004a). In recent years, especially in the United States, the industry has shifted the focus to economic claims that smoke-free environments are disastrous for the hospitality industry, investing millions of dollars in restaurant associations (Dearlove et al, 2002) and in the gaming industry (Mandel & Glantz, 2004). These claims continue to be pressed vigorously to oppose legislation, despite the fact that all high-quality independently funded and peer-reviewed research regarding the effects of smoke-free policies on the hospitality industry has consistently shown no effect or a positive effect on revenue (Hahn, 2010;Scollo, Lal, Hyland, & Glantz, 2003).…”