No smoking in NV hotel rooms?

Proving that things that happen in other parts of the country also happen in Vegas, there’s talk of banning smoking indoors in Nevada. But in hotel rooms? From the LVRJ:

Nevada voters could be asked in November whether they want to ban smoking in hotel and motel rooms, restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores and bars.

A separate business-backed initiative will allow voters to choose a less restrictive ban on smoking, including in areas of bars and restaurants where children are allowed.

Neither of the ballot questions would outlaw smoking on a casino floor.

The more restrictive measure, being proposed by Nevadans for Tobacco-Free Kids, would make Nevada the first state in the country to prohibit smoking in all hotel and motel rooms, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights said.

Nevada now ranks as the worst state in the nation for protecting nonsmokers, said Bronson Frick, the organization’s associate director. With passage of the ballot question, Nevada would be among the best states for nonsmokers rights, he said.

Most of the big casino companies are taking a wait-and-see approach to the matter.

reviewjournal.com — News – SMOKING QUESTION: Worries over ban surface

The most compelling reason for banning smoking in indoor areas, I would think, is worker safety. If it’s been proven that working in a smoke-filled room presents health hazards, then it makes sense to end indoor smoking.

But I can’t think of any good reason why someone who wants can’t smoke in their own hotel room. Besides being hard to enforce, this ban won’t help anyone avoid second-hand smoke, and might actually increase smoking on casino floors, as hotel guests light up there instead of in their rooms.

If you read nearly to the end of the article, you’ll see that I got my 2 cents in. In addition to what I said about smoking in movie theaters–which I can’t even imagine–I made another historical parallel. Are bans on smoking a sign of an enduring societal shift, such as women’s suffrage or the outlawing of slavery? Or is it a foolish gambit by a puritanical minority, like the attempt at alcoholic Prohibition? One day, we’ll know, but not today.

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